First U.S. Ebola Patient In Latest Strain Has Connections To Montgomery Co.

BUNIA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO — A doctor working for a Montgomery County-based missionary organization in the Congo has contracted the Ebola virus, the according to the organization and the CDC.

Peter Stafford, who works for the Jenkintown-based aid group Serge, is the first American known to have contracted this latest strain of ebola, known as Bundibugyo.

Nearly 400 cases and more than 100 deaths have been connected to the strain, authorities said. The World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern on Saturday as the virus continues to spread through the Congo and into neighboring Uganda.

Stafford was working alongside two other doctors, his wife Rebekah Stafford and Patrick LaRochelle. They are adhering to strict quarantine procedures, Serge said. The Staffords have four young children who are also being closely monitored.

Stafford was evacuated to Germany on Tuesday for specialized treatment.

“Our hearts are with the Stafford family and with the Congolese communities facing this outbreak,” Matt Allison, Executive Director of Serge, shared in a statement. “Peter and Rebekah have faithfully served vulnerable communities in Nyankunde with extraordinary compassion and courage. We are deeply grateful for the medical teams, government agencies, and international partners working together to provide care, contain the outbreak, and protect lives."

The Bundibugyo strain has an alarmingly high 30 to 40 percent mortality rate, health officials say, though those many of those cases often go untreated. It has emerged in two previous outbreaks, in 2007 and 2012, and likely originates from infected fruit bats.

The outbreak has also triggered a travel restriction in the United States, temporarily preventing entry from anyone who has been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan within the last 21 days, the state department announced Monday.

Serge, based on 101 West Avenue in Jenkintown, sends healthcare and community workers in missionary settings to 29 countries around the globe.