US doctor isolated in Czech hospital for Ebola monitoring released, heading home


FILE PHOTO: A health worker stands next to an ambulance, believed to be carrying a U.S. doctor who is being transferred from Uganda to the Faculty Hospital Bulovka after he came into contact with a patient infected with Ebola, at the hospital in Prague, Czech Republic, May 21, 2026 REUTERS/Eva Korinkova/File Photo

PRAGUE, June 10 (Reuters) - ⁠A U.S. doctor who was transferred to a ⁠Czech hospital from Uganda last month as ‌a precaution after having contact with a patient with Ebola has been released and is on his way home, Prague's Bulovka ​hospital said on Wednesday.

The doctor, identified ⁠in media as ⁠Patrick LaRochelle, had been isolated at the hospital in ⁠Prague since ‌May 21 and was released after the virus's incubation period ended.

He showed no ⁠symptoms, the hospital said on the X social ​media platform.

LaRochelle ‌was transferred to the hospital for three weeks ⁠of isolation ​as a precaution following a U.S. request which came, according to the health ministry, because of the country's ⁠reputation in the infectious disease ​field.

Global health authorities have been racing to help contain an Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. ⁠Neighbouring Uganda has also reported cases.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has called on European nations to follow Washington's lead and impose travel restrictions on people who ​have recently been in Central ⁠African countries affected by the Ebola outbreak, in hopes ​of avoiding the spread of ‌the virus during the soccer ​World Cup, sources and officials said on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by Nia Williams)

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