US doctor treated for Ebola discharged from Berlin hospital

The US doctor being treated for Ebola in Berlin's Charité hospital was discharged on Saturday after two weeks. 

The hospital said the doctor is in good health after catching the virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He has tested negative for the virus since May 30, so health authority officials lifted the isolation order at midday, in line with standard international guidelines. 

The doctor was admitted to the Charité on May 20 after a PCR test established he had the rare Bundibugyo virus, the strain of Ebola that has been identified in the ongoing outbreak in central Africa. 

His wife and four children arrived in Berlin shortly afterwards. They were classified as "high-risk contacts" but had no symptoms and were placed in quarantine in a separate part of the ward.

Patient thinks of people in Congo

The patient thanked the Charité team who treated him. 

"I received world-class care, including experimental therapeutics that are being evaluated for the treatment of this species of virus," he was quoted as saying in a statement issued by Charité. "Words do not adequately describe the gratitude that I have. (...) Our hearts remain with those in Congo who do not have the opportunity to receive the incredible care that we were given."

Ebola is a contagious and life-threatening disease transmitted through physical contact and contact with bodily fluids. 

The outbreak in Congo, where the doctor was working, is proving particularly difficult to contain, partly because there is currently neither a vaccine nor a specific treatment for the Bundibugyo strain.