A doctor who tested positive for Ebola has landed in the UK for treatment at a specialist infectious diseases unit in London.
The British man, who has not been identified, was flown back from the Democratic Republic of Congo to RAF Northolt before being transported to Royal Free Hospital.
This is the first confirmed case of a UK national contracting Ebola in the most recent outbreak of the virus in the DR Congo.
So far, the deadly illness has led to over 5,000 deaths in the African country, with symptoms including nausea, muscle pain, and bleeding from your ears, nose, mouth, and eyes.
Dr Renu Bindra, deputy director of the All Hazards Public Health Response team at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said the risk to the public is low.
She reassured that they have ‘well-established procedures for dealing with cases like this’.
The infected doctor was brought to the hospital in a joint effort by the UK and the DR Congo, according to the Department of Health.
Three police vans supported a convoy of emergency vehicles, stopping traffic and holding back the public once they arrived at the north London hospital.
The man is now being treated in a ‘highly specialised’ isolation unit.
Previously, the hospital has successfully treated three health workers who were evacuated during the 2014-2015 West African Ebola outbreak.
Only four cases of Ebola have been confirmed in the UK, including these three workers and a laboratory worker due to an incident in 1976. All survived.
What is Ebola?
Ebola is an illness caused by a group of related viruses, known as orthoebolaviruses.
It spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids, such as blood or saliva, of someone infected.
A person infected with Ebola cannot spread it until they develop symptoms.
Bodily fluids from the body of someone who has died of Ebola can also be highly contagious, with the virus spreading during funerals.
Infections come in two stages – a dry stage and a wet stage.
Dry symptoms, which include fever, aches, pains and fatigue, can progress to ‘wet’ ones such as diarrhoea, vomiting and bleeding.
As the first round of symptoms, which show within 21 days, resemble the common cold or flu, many Ebola cases go undiagnosed.
Some patients can suffer bleeding from the gums and nose, while the virus gnawing at the nervous system can make them irritable and confused.
The most recent outbreak in DR Congo has seen over 10,000 confirmed cases since May, the highest rate of infection after the 2010s outbreak.
The country reported a fatality rate of 48.6% at the end of last month.
Ebola spreads from contact with infected bodily fluids, such as vomit or blood, and can cause organ failure if left untreated.
Currently, there is no approved vaccine for the virus, although the World Health Organisation said two new candidate drugs are in an ongoing clinical trial.
Since the beginning of the outbreak, cases have also been confirmed in Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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