MSF staff member tests positive for Ebola and is being medically evacuated

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has confirmed that one of its staff members, who had been working on the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has tested positive for Bundibugyo virus disease.

The staff member is being safely evacuated under a strict medical protocol in close coordination with the relevant health authorities in the DRC and the Netherlands, where the patient will be received by a designated hospital. MSF said it could not share specific details about the individual, citing medical confidentiality and the need to protect its colleague’s privacy.

The announcement on 1 October comes as the DRC faces the largest Ebola disease outbreak ever recorded in the country. MSF says that since May, more than 8,000 confirmed cases and 4,000 deaths have been reported, with the true toll likely higher because of gaps in surveillance and case detection. Healthcare workers, the organisation said, are among those at greatest risk, adding that despite staff training and “the highest possible levels of protection”, the risk of exposure can never be completely eliminated.

MSF is currently responding to the outbreak across Ituri, North Kivu, Tshopo and Haut-Uélé provinces, working alongside Congolese health authorities and affected communities in an effort to bring the outbreak under control.