A British healthcare worker diagnosed with Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been flown to the UK for treatment. The BBC reports that he was taken to the specialist infectious diseases unit at the Royal Free Hospital in north London.
The aircraft carrying the patient landed at RAF Northolt, a Royal Air Force base, on Thursday 5 November. He was then transferred to hospital. His identity has not been disclosed, and the BBC report does not give his current condition or details of his treatment.
The BBC cites an earlier statement by a UK government spokesperson, who said there were well-established procedures for handling such cases. According to that assessment, the risk to the public remains low. That does not mean the risk is zero.
The Royal Free Hospital has experience of caring for patients with Ebola. According to the BBC, it successfully treated three healthcare workers evacuated during the 2014–2015 outbreak in West Africa.
Ebola can cause severe illness and death. The virus spreads through contact with infected bodily fluids — an important part of the context for the government’s risk assessment and the patient’s treatment in a specialist unit.
