An American doctor with Ebola was evacuated to Berlin. The U.S. has biocontainment units.
What happened on Tuesday: the medevac, the 50 clinics, and what the State Department said about USAID.
The difference between a triage clinic and an Ebola Treatment Unit.
The State Department says USAID cuts haven’t affected the response.
One confirmed American case. Destination: Germany.
An American surgeon infected with Ebola in eastern Congo was evacuated on Tuesday to Berlin’s Charité university hospital, not to the United States.
Dr. Peter Stafford, a general surgeon with the Christian mission organization Serge, contracted Bundibugyo ebolavirus while operating on patients in Bunia, in Ituri Province. According to his organization, he is receiving care in Charité’s high-isolation ward, which has treated Ebola patients before, including during the 2014 West Africa epidemic. His wife, Dr. Rebekah Stafford, an OBGYN, and their four young children are also being evacuated to Germany. A third doctor, Dr. Patrick LaRochelle, is being flow to the Czech Republic.
In 2014, American Ebola patients were brought home.
The United States has domestic biocontainment capacity. Bellevue Hospital Center, Emory University Hospital, the NIH Clinical Center, and others all have specialized units designed for patients with highly infectious diseases. During the 2014 outbreak, American healthcare workers who contracted Ebola were medevaced to these facilities and treated on U.S. soil. In July 2014, Donald Trump tweeted: “Ebola patient will be brought to the U.S. in a few days - now I know for sure that our leaders are incompetent. KEEP THEM OUT OF HERE!” In 2026, an American with Ebola was sent to Germany. The CDC said the decision was based on shorter flight time and Germany's previous experience treating Ebola patients.
Rubio says WHO was “a little late.”
Separately, Secretary of State Rubio told reporters the WHO had been “a little late to identify this thing” and said the U.S. had mobilized roughly $14 million in assistance. Congress appropriated $5.4 billion for the 2014 Ebola response. The U.S. alone committed $1.9 billion to the international response before that appropriation was even passed.
The United States withdrew from the WHO in January. The US owes approximately $311 million in assessed WHO dues for the 2026-27 biennium, including arrears. That went unpaid when the US formally exited on January 22, 2026.
USAID, which funded surveillance, contact tracing, and laboratory capacity across central Africa, was dissolved last July — 80% of its global health awards terminated. The CDC has had a Senate-confirmed director for 28 days under this administration.
The difference between a triage clinic and an Ebola Treatment Unit.
The State Department also announced funding for up to 50 Ebola response clinics in the DRC and Uganda. The department’s own language describes “emergency Ebola screening, triage, and isolation capacity” — functions distinct from those of an Ebola Treatment Unit, which provides fluid rehydration, manages hemorrhagic complications, and delivers life support. When pressed, a State Department official acknowledged that setup would take “a few weeks and months” and that the term “treatment center” was being applied broadly: “we take a broader definition.” The announcement does not address contact tracing. With hundreds of suspected cases and each Ebola patient generating an estimated 10 to 20 close contacts, the tracing workload is substantial. The community health workers previously trained for that role had their positions eliminated when USAID funding ended.
The State Department says USAID cuts haven’t affected the response.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said it was “false to claim that the USAID reform has negatively impacted our ability to respond to Ebola,” adding that bringing USAID’s global health functions under a new bureau at State had made the response “more aligned and effective.”
And in the news…
“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.”
“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.
“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.