NAMPA — Dr. Peter Stafford, a surgeon and burn specialist working for Serge, a Christian medical missionary, is fighting for his life after testing positive for Ebola while working at a hospital in Nyankunde, a city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), which runs about one-third of its worldwide operations out of Nampa Municipal Airport, flew Stafford’s wife, Dr. Rebekah Stafford — an obstetrician-gynecologist — and their four children to Entebbe, Uganda, in a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan. Rebekah and their children were exposed to the Ebola disease but are asymptomatic, according to CBS News. Peter was flown to Germany for “specialized treatment,” according to MAF. He is receiving “Ebola-specific care” at Berlin’s Charite University Hospital, according to Serge.

Peter, who was “exposed to the virus while doing a surgery at Nyankunde Hospital,” according to Serge, has worked at the hospital since 2023. The surgeon shared a brief update on being evacuated.

“Before I was evacuated, I was feeling really concerned I wasn’t going to make it,” Peter said, according to Serge. “And now, I’m cautiously optimistic.”

MAF has been “conducting essential evacuation flights in response to the Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.”

EBOLA OUTBREAKThe Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is dealing with its 17th Ebola disease outbreak since 1976, according to MAF.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the “Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda” a public health emergency of international concern, but “it does not meet the criteria of pandemic emergency.”

More than 500 Ebola cases have been documented in recent weeks, according to a Christianity Today article on May 19. The outbreak has killed 131, and Nyankunde Hospital is near the center of it, according to the article.

According to the World Health Organization, the Ebola disease is a severe and often fatal illness to humans. The average Ebola disease case fatality rate is about 50%. Case fatality rates have varied from 25%-90% in past outbreaks.

Ebola disease is caused by viruses that belong to the Orthoebolavirus genus of the filoviridae family, according to WHO. Six species of Orthoebolaviruses have been identified to date, with three known to cause large outbreaks, according to WHO:

• Ebola virus, causing Ebola virus disease
• Sudan virus, causing Sudan virus disease
• Bundibugyo virus, causing Bundibugyo virus disease

Stafford’s strain is Bundibugyo virus disease. This is only the third known outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain, according to CBS News.

“Unlike the more common Zaire strain, there is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment available for this variant,” MAF states. “Exposure risk is considered low while protocols are being followed.”

As of Thursday morning, Dr. Peter Stafford was “critically ill but not acutely deteriorating,” according to Dr. Scott Myhre, Serge’s area director for East and Central Africa.

“I was able to speak with Peter briefly by phone on the morning of May 21, and he reports he’s feeling better than he was yesterday and is beginning to eat small amounts of food. Peter is continuing to show the predictable sequence of Ebola signs and symptoms. He passed through the first days of nonspecific symptoms (fever, aches, fatigue) and has now passed into a phase with vomiting, diarrhea, and rash, with labs trending slightly in the right direction.”

MISSION AVIATION FELLOWSHIPMAF, which uses aviation to “support missionary and humanitarian relief efforts for remote communities around the world,” has served in the DRC since 1961.

Peter was practicing out of Nyankunde Hospital in Niankunde, DRC, which is on the far eastern side of DRC and just west of the Ugandan border.

In addition to evacuating Stafford’s family, Dr. Patrick Rochelle, a colleague of the Staffords, who was “exposed to the virus,” was also evacuated, according to Brad Hoaglun, director of creative services for MAF.

Hoaglun shared more details of the mission with the Idaho Press on Friday.

“Dr. Stafford and his family were driven to Bunia, the capital of the Ituri province (in DRC), along with Dr. Patrick Rochelle,” Hoaglun said. “It was from there that we evacuated the Stafford family and Dr. Rochelle, all who had been exposed to Ebola, but didn’t exhibit any symptoms at the time.”

Before flying the Staffords and Dr. Rochelle, MAF had evacuated another mission family, but the organization does so with safeguards.

“All evacuation operations are conducted in close coordination with public health officials and government authorities,” MAF stated.

“MAF does temperature checks of all passengers under our Ebola protocols,” Hoaglun said. “We took them from Bunia to Entebbe, Uganda.”

MAF also has an “established Ebola Management Plan.”

“(The plan) has been successfully implemented during previous outbreaks,” MAF states. “The EMP includes strict measures such as passenger temperature checks, mandatory use of personal protective equipment, comprehensive aircraft sanitization procedures and other safety protocols. MAF flight operations will continue under these procedures to ensure the safety of both passengers and crew.”

The family has been reunited in Berlin, according to Serge. The family was asymptomatic as of Thursday and was able to “see (Peter) through a window, and the hospital staff say they hope to provide that level of access periodically,” Serge states. “Both Drs. Stafford say they were relieved to have had the opportunity to see each other and were finally able to have their first few hours of peaceful sleep following the window greeting.”

According to the Berlin hospital staff, on Friday, Peter was “severely weakened, but is not currently critically ill,” CBS News said.

All MAF staff remain in good health and are taking appropriate precautions in their daily activities, according to Mission Network News.

“MAF asks you to pray for impacted individuals and their families, and for the swift containment, effective response efforts and continued safety and health of our staff,” Mission Network News states. “Please pray specifically for Dr. Stafford’s healing.”