A US doctor infected with the Ebola virus is being treated in a high-level isolation unit at Berlin's Charite university hospital. The patient contracted the disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
US authorities had asked Germany for assistance due to the shorter flight distance to Europe compared to North America. Several family members were also flown to Germany and are considered close contacts, in terms of the infection, according to the German Health Ministry.
"A patient suffering from Ebola disease can be in a precarious condition. And on an evacuation airplane your means are limited. So, you want to have a short flight route but to a center with very high medical standards," said Thomas Pärisch, a medical doctor and CEO of Pandemic Shield consultancy, in an interview with DW.
Most cases of
Ebola have occured on the African continent where in certain region places the virus is considered endemic.
