MSF: French Staff Member Infected With Ebola has Recovered

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was deeply gratified to hear confirmation from the French Ministry of Health today that its staff member infected by Ebola in Liberia mid-September has now recovered.

“We are sharing in the joy of the family of our colleague. This is amazing news and huge relief for all at MSF. We would like to thank the efforts and the mobilization of the teams at Begin hospital who have taken care of her since her return to France,” said  Stéphane Roques, MSF’s General Director.

Since the beginning of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa in March 2014, medical and non-medical staff working for ministries of health and NGOs supporting them in the most affected countries have been exposed to the virus.  An estimated 373 medical staff have been infected since the beginning of the epidemic, and 208 have died. Since March 2014, 16 MSF staff members contracted the virus; nine of them have died.

“Our thoughts are with the other MSF staff who contracted Ebola since the beginning of our intervention and particularly for those who have succumbed as well as their families,” Roques said.

Nearly 3,000 MSF national and international staff remain mobilized in the fight against Ebola in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. “Considering the speed at which the virus is spreading, we have to consider the possibility that more staff from the ministries of health, MSF or their families will get infected by the virus. For the sake of the population of all affected countries, MSF reiterates its call for states with necessary capacity to act immediately to tackle this epidemic,” Roques said.