American doctor sickened by Ebola virus works with Jenkintown mission organization

JENKINTOWN, Pa. (WPVI) -- The World Health Organization has declared Ebola a public health emergency of international significance and the impact has reached a medical missionary with ties to Jenkintown, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Peter Stafford, a physician working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with the Jenkintown-based Christian mission organization Serge, is now being treated after contracting the virus.

Stafford became sick with Ebola after developing symptoms "a couple of days ago," according to his colleague, Dr. Scott Myhre.

"It was probably on day eight after his exposure," he said.

Stafford has been treating patients in Congo alongside his wife, Dr. Rebekah Stafford, an obstetrician, since 2023.

Myhre told ABC News that Stafford "put himself unknowingly at risk by doing surgery on a very sick patient who ended up probably dying from Ebola."

The father of four tested positive for the virus on Sunday.

"He is flying up to a U.S. military base in Germany. He is on the way and we think he is receiving some monoclonal antibodies that have proven helpful," said Myhre.

Stafford's wife and their children, along with another physician, internist Dr. Patrick LaRochelle, are now in quarantine.

"They're all asymptomatic. They're monitoring their temperatures every day. We expect them to be flown out tomorrow," said Myhre.

Health officials in Congo are tracking a rare Ebola variant suspected of killing more than 130 people and monitoring more than 500 suspected cases. The announcement of an outbreak came after Dr. Stafford was exposed.

"He did a surgery a week before the epidemic was identified as Ebola virus. So I think they were doing standard protocol for protecting themselves and their patients from cross-contamination," said Myhre.

The U.S. has enacted a 30day travel ban for non-U.S. citizens entering the country if they have visited Central Africa within the past three weeks.

What to know about the Bundibugyo virus, a species of Ebola causing an outbreak in Congo

The species of Ebola virus causing the outbreak is less common than other Ebola viruses, which is complicating the response because there are no specific treatments or vaccines.

"There's nothing even close to ready for clinical trials," said Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist who treated patients in West Africa during the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic. "And so that means responders, healthcare workers and other aid workers are really back to the basics."

Here's what to know about Bundibugyo virus, the rare species behind the outbreak of what public health officials call Ebola virus disease.

Bundibugyo virus has caused two other outbreaks

Bundibugyo has caused two other outbreaks, all in the same region of the Congo River basin, said Dr. Tom Ksiazek, a University of Texas Medical Branch virologist and veterinarian. He directed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Special Pathogens Branch, which first identified the virus in 2007.

How Bundibugyo virus is spread

The virus is spread the same way as other Ebola viruses: through close contact with sick or deceased patients' bodily fluids, such as sweat, blood, feces or vomit. Healthcare workers and family members caring for sick patients face the highest risk, experts said.

"So very often we see doctors and nurses among the first to be infected and to die," said Gounder, editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News.

Bundibugyo may be less lethal than other Ebola species but it is still extremely dangerous

From the few outbreaks health experts have seen, Bundibugyo might be slightly less deadly than what is often called Zaire virus, the most common species.

"I think a 30%-plus mortality rate is still quite scary, but it's hard to say with a lot of precision because we don't have a lot of experience," Gounder said.

How people with Bundibugyo are cared for if there are no treatments or vaccines

In the other two Bundibugyo outbreaks, initial cases were identified early, Ksiazek said, allowing for a quick public health response: getting healthcare workers proper protective equipment, finding and isolating people who were exposed and offering supportive medical care to patients. Proper medical care "reduces mortality significantly," he said.

That includes giving patients lots of IV or oral fluids, Gounder said.

How public health workers are trying to contain the outbreak

Health workers are now working to find and isolate cases, trace their contacts and educate people about how to avoid the virus. In the West African epidemic, ensuring safe methods of burial was key to stopping the spread, said Gounder, because people were getting sick from preparing their loved ones' bodies for funeral rites.

Making sure health workers have proper protective equipment is also critical, experts said.

"Of course, it's problematic because vaccines are some of our best tools for combating infectious diseases," said Lina Moses, an epidemiologist and disease ecologist at Tulane University. But other public health tools - public education, contact tracing, quick testing - still work, she said.

"It's important to keep in mind that every single Ebola outbreak that has occurred in the (Democratic Republic of the Congo) - we're on our 17th now - has been stopped," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.