American tests positive for Ebola in Congo, will be evacuated

Jessica Nix, Bloomberg News on Jul 11, 2026

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A U.S. humanitarian worker in the Democratic Republic of Congo has tested positive for Ebola and will be sent to Europe for treatment, the religious humanitarian aid group Samaritan’s Purse said Saturday.

The person has worked with the group’s disaster response team for 15 years and has been in Congo for the past month, the group said in a statement. The organization said it won’t release more details about the patient.

“Plans are unfolding for our staff member to be moved to Europe for further medical care,” said Franklin Graham, president and chief executive of Samaritan’s Purse. “We praise God that he has responded well to treatment, is in stable condition, and is able to be moved.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention separately confirmed that a second U.S. citizen working in the outbreak zone had tested positive for the deadly Bundibugyo strain of Ebola on July 10. In May, another humanitarian worker tested positive in the early days of the outbreak and was sent to Germany for treatment. That patient has since recovered and returned to the U.S.

The ongoing Ebola outbreak in central Africa has grown into one of the largest on record: more than 1,800 people have tested positive and 627 people have died, according to the CDC. The spread of the virus prompted the U.S. to adopt travel restrictions and increase screening at some airports.

The Trump administration has also rushed to open quarantine facilities at an Air Force base in Kenya to treat Americans who are exposed to the virus instead of utilizing the state-of-the-art biocontainment network in the U.S.

About 400 people at the CDC have been responding to the outbreak, including 120 people on the ground in Africa. Samaritan’s Purse opened two treatment facilities in Congo in June and has sent personal protective equipment. The humanitarian worker who was infected wasn’t involved in direct patient care at the treatment facilities, the group said.

The Bundibugyo strain has been spreading through Congo and neighboring Uganda for months. The outbreak is difficult to contain due to conflicts, geographic challenges and the lack of approved vaccines or therapies. Health workers have been on strike over unpaid benefits and deteriorating working conditions.

The World Health Organization is sponsoring a trial to test Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc.’s monoclonal antibody cocktail MBP134 and Gilead Sciences Inc.’s antiviral remdesivir in Congo’s Ituri province, where the outbreak is centered. Patients have started to receive the experimental treatments.