Details on Ebola outbreak as Americans urged to avoid travel to Congo, Uganda, South Sudan

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]The State Department today strongly urged Americans to avoid traveling to three Central African countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and South Sudan, citing the Ebola outbreak there. More than 130 people have already died. Hundreds of others are believed to be infected. Senior national correspondent Mark Strassmann has more on an American doctor being treated in Germany.

[00:00:21]American surgeon Dr. Peter Stafford has Ebola and will be treated at a German hospital. His doctor wife Rebecca and their four children are also headed there. Dr. Patrick Larochelle, another American, was also exposed. They're missionaries in Eastern Congo and they're among hundreds of people infected by an Ebola outbreak that prompted the World Health Organization to meet today in emergency session. We have now significant uncertainty about the numbers of infection and how far the virus has spread. Ebola deaths from this outbreak officially stand at more than 130 people. There are another 500 plus suspected cases. And experts expect those patient numbers and deaths to spike and soon. Ebola spreads through direct contact with blood or bodily fluids. This particular deadly strain has no approved vaccine and without one up to half of infected patients could die. A 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa killed more than 11,000 people.

[00:01:27]Diseases do not respect borders. If we're not closely tracing, you know, cases and and managing them, there's a very good chance that they could come to the US. Mark Strassmann, CBS News, Atlanta.