British Ebola patient evacuated to London for specialist care
A British doctor who tested positive for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been flown to the UK and admitted to a specialist isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in north London. Health officials say the risk to the wider public remains low, while the outbreak has recorded more than 10,000 confirmed cases.
A British Ebola patient evacuated from the Democratic Republic of the Congo has arrived in London for specialist treatment, the UK Department of Health and Social Care said on Thursday. The doctor is being treated in an isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital, where strict measures are in place to prevent contact with the public.
The case marks the first time a British national has contracted Ebola during the current outbreak. UK health officials say the risk to the wider public remains low, while the infection has spread beyond the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The doctor, whose identity has not been made public, was brought to the UK on a medical evacuation flight. The Department of Health and Social Care said the patient is now in a specialised high-level isolation unit in Hampstead, north London.
Dr Renu Bindra, deputy director for all-hazards public health response at the UK Health Security Agency, said: “UKHSA and the NHS have well-established and robust infection prevention and control protocols to limit the risk of onward transmission, and the risk to the wider public remains low.”
The hospital’s isolation unit has protocols designed to prevent the patient coming into contact with members of the public. Staff treating the doctor use personal protective equipment alongside other infection-control measures.
The evacuation brings the outbreak closer to Britain, but the immediate public-health response is focused on containing any risk around the patient’s care. The health agency’s assessment is that the wider public risk remains low, and treatment is taking place in a specialist facility rather than a general ward.
What is the scale of the Ebola outbreak?
The outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has surpassed 10,000 cases and 5,000 deaths, according to the reported figures. The country’s health ministry declared the outbreak in May, and it has spread to Kenya and Uganda in East Africa. Nigeria confirmed a case in its capital, Abuja, last month.
The British doctor had travelled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a humanitarian organisation to help respond to the outbreak. This is the first confirmed infection of a British national in the current outbreak, which has been described as the second largest on record.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids, including blood or vomit from infected people, as well as contact with the bodies of people who have died from the disease. Symptoms can begin between two and 21 days after contact with an orthoebolavirus. Early signs include fever, aches, pains and fatigue, and illness can progress to diarrhoea, vomiting and unexplained bleeding.
The UK has recorded four confirmed Ebola cases previously. One in 1976 followed a laboratory needle incident, while the other three involved health workers responding to an outbreak in West Africa between 2014 and 2015.
The Royal Free Hospital has a specialist isolation unit for the patient. The latest confirmed outbreak figures stand at more than 10,000 cases and over 5,000 deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
