World

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

PRAGUE, June 10 – 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. REUTERS