A U.S. surgeon who contracted Ebola while working with a Christian missionary group in the Democratic Republic of Congo has recovered and was discharged from Berlin’s Charite Hospital after 17 days of treatment. He was infected after operating on an Ebola patient before the outbreak was officially declared on May 15. Doctors said his initially high viral load dropped significantly with antiviral and supportive treatment, and no virus was detected after May 30. The surgeon received experimental therapies, while his wife and children, quarantined as high-risk contacts, were also discharged in good health.
The World Health Organization has so far reported a total of 471 Ebola cases and 84 deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. The outbreak has been declared an international public health emergency, with U.S. health authorities warning it could become the largest Ebola epidemic on record. The current strain can be fatal in up to half of infected patients.
