Ebola patient recovers and leaves LUMC
The aid worker from Congo tested negative, after which isolation was ended and the patient was discharged.
Follow-up to: Ebola patient treated in isolation in Leiden Saturday, 3 October 2026, 21:01
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The Ebola patient treated at Leiden University Medical Centre has recovered and been discharged from hospital. According to the RIVM, the patient tested negative and there is no longer any risk of transmission from this patient.
The RIVM announced on Saturday that the patient left hospital on Friday. Isolation was ended after a new test came back negative. According to the institute, the Ebola virus is no longer present in the patient and they can no longer infect anyone.
The patient worked as an aid worker in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where an Ebola outbreak is under way. After returning to the Netherlands, the patient was admitted directly to a special treatment room at LUMC in early October. The patient's identity and further personal details have not been disclosed.
LUMC had previously reported that the admission took place under strict isolation measures. The hospital has facilities for patients with very serious infectious diseases. The RIVM says staff worked according to established safety protocols and that the admission had no consequences for other patients or visitors.
This discharge announcement applies only to this patient and does not mean that the outbreak in Congo is over. The RIVM will continue to monitor the international situation. According to the institute, the risk of infection in the Netherlands is still considered very small.
According to the RIVM, Ebola does not spread like a respiratory virus. Infection occurs through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of someone who is ill. The patient at LUMC was therefore treated in isolation until laboratory tests showed that the virus was no longer present.
The development is particularly relevant because the Netherlands has once again treated a patient with an imported infection without the infection spreading among the population. The treatment and discharge show that specialised care and isolation were available, but say nothing about the further course of the epidemic in Congo or the treatment of other patients.
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The latest health information comes directly from the RIVM and has been supplemented with public information about the earlier admission. The text clearly distinguishes between this patient's recovery and the ongoing outbreak in Congo.
- confirmed The patient tested negative and left LUMC. — Stated in the RIVM update of 10 October 2026. source
- confirmed Isolation was ended. — The RIVM reports that isolation was stopped. source
- confirmed The patient worked as an aid worker in the Democratic Republic of Congo. — Mentioned by the RIVM and LUMC. source
- confirmed The patient was admitted to LUMC in early October. — Confirmed by the earlier LUMC announcement and the RIVM timeline. source
- confirmed The risk of infection in the Netherlands remains very small. — This is the RIVM's current assessment. source
- confirmed Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected patient. — Explanation on the RIVM information page. source
Editor's note
The recovery, negative test, discharge and assessment of the risk of infection in the Netherlands come from the latest RIVM update. The earlier admission and isolation were confirmed by LUMC and regional reporting; the patient's identity remains unknown.Sources
- Actuele informatie Ebola — Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu
- LUMC vangt patiënt op met ebolabesmetting — Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum
- Ebolapatiënt opgenomen in strikte isolatie bij LUMC Leiden — 112Nederland
The story so far
- Saturday, 3 October 2026, 21:01 Ebola patient treated in isolation in Leiden
- Saturday, 10 October 2026, 15:46 Ebola patient recovers and leaves LUMC (this article)
More on this in Dutch media
- NOS — „ebola lumc”
- Het Parool — „ebola lumc”
- Trouw — „ebola lumc”