- A Czech soldier from the mission in the Congo spent three weeks in quarantine.
- He was sent to preventive isolation because of the spreading Ebola in the Congo.
- He did not come into confirmed contact with Ebola during his stay in the Congo.
After three weeks, the Czech army ended the quarantine of a soldier who returned from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in May, where he was on a UN peacekeeping mission. The Ebola virus is currently spreading in the country, so the soldier was sent into preventive isolation upon his return, although according to Zdenka Sobarň Košvancová from the General Staff of the Army of the Czech Republic, he did not directly meet the infected. The army informed about his release on the X social network on Friday, writes TASR correspondent in Prague.
“The Czech soldier who returned on May 22 from the UN observation mission in the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, i.e. the confirmed outbreak of Ebola, was released from preventive quarantine today. During his stay in the Congo, he did not come into confirmed contact with the disease and did not show any symptoms. The quarantine at the facility of the Department of Biological Protection in Těchonín was ordered only for preventive reasons,” said the army.
Due to the increased interest of the public, the army pointed out in May that isolation is a standard step that most soldiers must undergo after returning from a foreign mission. In the facility, they undergo a basic medical examination or a basic psychological interview.
In the Czech Republic, at a similar time, an American doctor who worked in the DRC was quarantined for Ebola. He was accepted by the Bulovka Faculty Hospital. Although he came into contact with the infected, in three weeks of quarantine he did not show any symptoms and the hospital released him on Wednesday.
The most recent Ebola epidemic broke out in the DRC in mid-May in Ituri province. Since then, the virus has spread to other provinces and neighboring Uganda. Authorities in the DRC reported this week that more than 100 people have already succumbed to the virus in the country.
