One Ebola Case Detected in U.S., Trump Voices Concern

(MENAFN) U.S. President Donald Trump declared Monday that he is "concerned" by the accelerating Ebola outbreak, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed that an American citizen has contracted the deadly virus.

When pressed by a reporter on the severity of the outbreak, Trump said he is "concerned about everything, but certainly am."

"I think that it's been confined right now to Africa, but it's something that has had a breakout," he said.

Senior White House domestic policy official Heidi Overton confirmed that the Trump administration has activated a coordinated interagency response to the viral crisis. She said the infected American — later identified as Dr. Peter Stafford, an American medical missionary confirmed by the organization Serge to have contracted the virus while treating patients at a local hospital — had displayed symptoms consistent with the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola and was being airlifted to Germany for treatment.

"That American, as well as six other high-risk contacts, are going to be taken out of that region and taken to Germany," Overton said. "That is an internationally recognized location for viral hemorrhagic fever treatments, so we're very grateful that they would take them. It's a significantly shorter flight time for Americans to receive treatment there in Germany."

Overton also announced that entry restrictions into the U.S. have been imposed on non-American nationals who have visited Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, or South Sudan within the past 21 days. She was clear, however, that no Ebola cases have been detected on American soil.

The gravity of the situation was further underscored Sunday when the World Health Organization formally declared the Ebola outbreak spreading across the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern — with at least 80 suspected deaths recorded as of Saturday.

Health authorities warn that the current outbreak is particularly alarming because the Bundibugyo strain involved has no approved vaccines or targeted treatments available.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it is actively coordinating with regional governments and global partners to contain the spread and minimize the risk of cross-border transmission.

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