Patrick Larochelle had been in isolation at Prague Hospital in Prague since May 21.
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Prague’s Brovka Hospital announced Wednesday that an American doctor who was transferred to a Czech hospital last month as a precaution after coming into contact with an Ebola patient in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was released on June 10 and is on his way home.
The doctor, a pediatrician and internist identified by the American Academy of Pediatrics as Patrick LaRochelle, had been isolated at the hospital since May 21. The hospital is a specialized facility for treating extremely dangerous diseases and is routinely prepared for such situations. He was released after the incubation period for the virus ended.
The hospital told X that he had no symptoms.
The Czech Ministry of Health said Larochelle was taken to a hospital for a three-week quarantine as a precaution at the request of the United States, citing the country’s reputation for fighting infectious diseases.
Larochelle, 46, was first flown from Congo to Uganda with other exposed doctors, then transferred to special medical flights for their respective trips, The Washington Post reported.
Larochelle, from Charlottesville, Virginia, was taken to Prague, and his wife, Anna, a family nurse, and the couple’s three children were allowed to return to the United States, AAP News reported.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Larochelle explained that her room at Brovka Hospital is made of PVC and has special features, such as a place to rest her gloved arm just above the bed in case she needs medical attention.
Two other American missionary doctors in the Congo, Peter and Rebecca Stafford, were also exposed and evacuated. Peter Stafford developed symptoms, tested positive and his condition worsened, AAP News reported. The Staffords and their four children were evacuated to Berlin, Germany, for treatment and monitoring.
“The Czech doctors and nurses were amazing,” he told the magazine.
Global health authorities are working hard to contain the Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Cases of infection have also been reported in neighboring Uganda.
President Donald Trump’s administration has called on European countries to follow the lead of the United States and impose travel restrictions on people who have recently been in Central African countries affected by the Ebola outbreak, officials and officials said on Tuesday.
Contributed by Reuters.
