Dr. Peter Stafford, who is being treated in Germany after contracting Ebola while treating patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is “critically ill but not acutely deteriorating,” according to a new update from Serge, a Christian missionary group with which he works.
“Peter is continuing to show the predictable sequence of Ebola signs and symptoms. He passed through the first days of nonspecific symptoms (fever, aches, fatigue), and has now passed into a phase with vomiting, diarrhea, and rash, with labs trending slightly in the right direction,” Dr. Scott Myhre, Serge’s area director for east and central Africa, said in a blog post on the organization’s website.
In a brief phone conversation, Stafford told Myhre that he believes being evacuated to Germany may have saved his life.
“Before I was evacuated I was feeling really concerned I wasn’t going to make it. And now I’m cautiously optimistic,” he said, according to Myhre.
Stafford’s wife, who is also a doctor, and their four children are considered high-risk contacts and are being quarantined in Germany. All of them are currently asymptomatic. Another American doctor who works with Stafford, Dr. Patrick LaRochelle, was evacuated to the Czech Republic, where he is being monitored under quarantine.
