According to a May 20 report by The Washington Post citing five sources familiar with the matter, the White House reportedly blocked a U.S. doctor infected with Ebola from returning home for treatment, delaying both his evacuation and medical care. The doctor, 39-year-old Peter Stafford from the international missionary organization Serge Global, was stationed in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola while treating patients and is currently receiving treatment in Charité Hospital’s infectious diseases and intensive care unit in Berlin. Another Serge Global physician, 46-year-old Patrick LaRochelle, remains asymptomatic but is classified as a high-risk contact; he has been isolated at Bulovka Hospital in Prague, Czech Republic. His family members, however, have been cleared to return to the U.S. after CDC assessments determined they faced no significant exposure risk. Six additional high-risk contacts have also been transferred to Germany. A White House spokesperson dismissed these reports as “completely false.”
The outbreak continues to spread rapidly: as of May 20, over 600 suspected cases and more than 139 suspected deaths had been recorded in the DRC. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that “this number is expected to rise,” noting vaccines targeting this particular strain won’t be ready for several months. Meanwhile, criticism has mounted over the Trump administration’s drastic cuts to USAID funding. According to the International Rescue Committee’s Country Director in the DRC, such reductions forced the organization to shrink its operations in outbreak hotspots from five locations to just two, leaving “the region dangerously vulnerable.” The State Department maintains these budget cuts have no impact on Ebola response efforts.