Stafford had contracted Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to media reports, Washington refused to allow him back into the United States, News.Az reports, citing Politico.
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The German government agreed to take in Stafford, his wife and their four children. He was admitted to the special isolation ward at Charité on May 20, where the Bundibugyo virus was detected. His family members did not contract Ebola but were also quarantined in Berlin until Saturday.
“Following a final examination today, the patient and his family were discharged from Charité in good health,” the hospital said in a statement. Previously, the local health department lifted the quarantine order for the family, since 21 days had passed since their last exposure to the virus.
Stafford thanked Charité: “I received first-rate care, including experimental treatments currently being tested for this type of virus.” He said his thoughts are with the people in Congo, who do not have access to this level of care.
“We are very pleased with the successful course of treatment and consider this a significant therapeutic success,” said Leif Erik Sander, Charité’s director of infectious diseases and critical care medicine.
At the end of May, Sander described the patient’s progress as “very positive,” saying Stafford had been “very weak” when he arrived. German Health Minister Nina Warken visited Charité hospital on May 27, where she discussed his condition with the attending physicians.
Charité’s special isolation ward is the largest facility of its kind in Germany. It is also the only one that combines infectious disease care with intensive care.
It remains unclear who will cover the medical expenses and whether Stafford and his family will now return to Congo, where he was working for a missionary group.
