MSF aid worker infected with Ebola in DR Congo evacuated to Leiden hospital
A European aid worker with Médecins Sans Frontières who contracted the Bundibugyo Ebola virus in eastern DR Congo arrived at Schiphol Airport on Thursday evening and was transferred to an isolation ward in Leiden.
Evacuation to the Netherlands
A dedicated medical transport plane carrying an aid worker infected with the Ebola virus touched down at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol on Thursday evening, 1 October 2026. The patient, a staff member of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), was transported on a direct flight from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to receive specialized clinical care in the Netherlands. Upon arrival on the tarmac, a dedicated medical reception team and the specialized Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) met the aircraft. Paramedics and medical specialists prepared the patient under strict biosecurity protocols to ensure total containment throughout the ground transfer. An ambulance then conveyed the patient directly from Schiphol to the specialized infectious disease facilities at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC).
Diagnosis and transmission in North Kivu
MSF confirmed that laboratory testing identified the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus in the aid worker. The contamination occurred during clinical operations in the Beni health zone, located within North Kivu province in the eastern region of DR Congo. Congolese Minister of Public Health Roger Kamba reported that the infected individual is a European expatriate, though officials and the humanitarian organization have withheld the patient's name and specific nationality. Kamba also stated that the aid worker had not yet been vaccinated against the virus prior to exposure. While immunization campaigns in Beni were in preparation with field teams deployed, vaccination efforts in neighbouring Ituri province had already commenced with operational backing from MSF.
- Two American healthcare workers are evacuated from Bunia to Berlin for treatment
- DR Congo records nearly 4,000 cumulative deaths from the Ebola epidemic
- Congolese authorities authorize direct air ambulance evacuation from Beni
- Ambulance aircraft lands at Schiphol Airport ahead of patient transfer to LUMC
Operational logistics and field risks
The medical transfer was authorized by the Congolese government following a formal evacuation request submitted by MSF leadership. To expedite transit and minimize regional exposure, the special flight departed directly from Beni without routing through the Congolese capital of Kinshasa. The evacuation unfolded as the wider epidemic in DR Congo reached nearly 4,000 recorded deaths by 29 September 2026. MSF emphasized that the high-risk environment in local treatment centers makes absolute prevention impossible, even when comprehensive biosecurity protocols and personal protective gear are rigorously applied.
The rules in place to avoid contamination are reliable and broad, but MSF workers operate in a very difficult and complex context with patients who are regularly brought in serious condition. The risk of contamination can therefore never be completely ruled out.
Precedents and clinical isolation in Leiden
Minister Kamba recalled an earlier medical evacuation during the initial stages of the outbreak, when two American healthcare workers were airlifted from Bunia to Berlin for emergency treatment. Kamba noted that transmission rates among frontline health workers have decreased substantially since that earlier period of the epidemic. Following the arrival in Leiden, the patient was admitted to a high-level isolation unit at LUMC, a facility specifically equipped to handle high-consequence infectious pathogens. The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the university hospital confirmed that the aid worker will undergo medical care in complete isolation over the coming period under procedures coordinated between Dutch and Congolese health authorities.
