UPDATE 2-US missionary who contracted Ebola is in transit to Germany, CDC says

A ‌U.S. ​citizen who contracted Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where an outbreak of a rare strain of the virus has killed over 130 people, ‌is currently in transit to Germany for treatment, the U.S. CDC said on Tuesday.

Germany earlier on Tuesday said it was preparing to treat the individual in the largest university hospital in Berlin. The health ministry confirmed a ‌U.S. citizen would be admitted to the special isolation ward at Berlin's Charite University Hospital after U.S. ‌authorities requested assistance.

"Arrangements are currently being made to admit and treat the patient in Germany," a spokesperson said, adding that there was a network of experts in the country for the management and care of patients with highly infectious diseases. The Serge ⁠Christian mission ​organization has identified the patient ⁠as medical missionary Peter Stafford.

Six other people who are high-risk contacts are finalizing travel plans to transit to Europe, Dr. ⁠Satish Pillai, the incident manager for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Ebola response, told reporters on a ​call. "The individuals are traveling to Europe, including in Germany, and they will be in quarantine during ⁠their monitoring period," Pillai said. One person will be going to the Czech Republic, and the rest to Germany, he said.

The outbreak ⁠of ​the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus in eastern DRC has killed 131 people and been declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization. Genetic testing has shown that diagnostic tests ⁠currently available for Ebola are effective in detecting the strain, Pillai said.

The risk to the United States remains ⁠low, he said, and ⁠the CDC is working with state, local, tribal, and territorial health departments on immediate patient isolation, specimen collection, and testing in suspected cases.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)