British Healthcare Worker Infected with Ebola Evacuated from DR Congo for Specialist Treatment

London: A British healthcare worker infected with Ebola is being medically evacuated from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Britain for specialist treatment, according to an official document seen by Reuters.

The patient is in a stable condition and is expected to arrive in Britain on Wednesday or Thursday, after which they will be transferred by specialist ambulance to a high-consequence infectious disease unit, the document showed.

British authorities, quoted in the document, said they did not expect the case to have a serious public health impact in Britain and anticipated no disruption to international travel or trade.

“A British citizen currently in the DRC has tested positive for Ebola,” a British government spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “The risk to the UK public from Ebola remains low.”

First British Case in Current Outbreak

The patient, whose identity has not been disclosed, had been deployed to Congo by a humanitarian organisation to support the response to the outbreak.

Asked about the patient, the World Health Organization (WHO) referred questions to the British authorities. “WHO has supported several medical evacuations at the request of partners and governments,” a spokesperson said by email, without providing further details.

The case is the first involving a British national linked to the current outbreak, although several people from elsewhere in Europe have also been infected. Switzerland last month evacuated an Ebola patient from Nigeria for treatment, while in June France reported its first confirmed case tied to the outbreak, involving a doctor returning from a humanitarian mission in Congo.

Low Risk to the Public

Ebola is a severe viral disease transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. According to the WHO, the disease is fatal in about half of cases on average, although mortality rates vary between outbreaks.

British health authorities say the risk to the wider public from imported Ebola cases remains low, and that the National Health Service (NHS) has established procedures for managing suspected and confirmed infections. Imported cases are rare, with only four confirmed cases recorded in Britain since 1976, according to the UK Health Security Agency.

The outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the second-largest on record, with more than 10,000 confirmed cases and nearly 5,000 deaths reported by late October.