PARIS — France has confirmed its first Ebola case in the country during the current outbreak, as a doctor returning from a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo tested positive.
In a statement on Wednesday, the French Health Ministry said the healthcare worker was operating in one of the areas where the virus was circulating.
The doctor was “immediately admitted to a specialised facility” and is in a stable condition, the ministry said.
DR Congo announced an Ebola outbreak last month, but experts believe the virus had been circulating for weeks previously.
More than 260 people are confirmed to have died from the virus in the central African country, while 1,000 people have been infected.
This is the first Ebola case to have been confirmed in Europe, although an American doctor who tested positive in DR Congo was treated at a German hospital last month.
DR Congo’s neighbor, Uganda, has also confirmed Ebola cases. The World Health Organization (WHO) says 20 people are known to have been infected there and two deaths have been confirmed.
In its statement on Wednesday, France’s health ministry stressed that the risk to the population was “very low”.
“The patient is being treated at a leading healthcare facility, following strict biosafety protocols,” the ministry said. “All precautionary measures, including the patient’s isolation, were implemented upon arrival in France, with transfer to the hospital under secure conditions to prevent any risk of contamination,” it said.
An epidemiological investigation is under way to identify individuals who may have been in contact with the patient. They will be contacted by health authorities to self-isolate for 21 days, the statement added.
Healthcare workers are especially at risk from Ebola, which is spread through bodily fluids.
Last week WHO said 17 of the 75 health workers who had caught Ebola in DR Congo had died.
The current Ebola outbreak was caused by the Bundibugyo species of the virus, for which there is currently no vaccine.
France has set up a “dedicated monitoring system” for aid workers returning from DR Congo, the health ministry said.
According to both Africa’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and US public health authorities, the current Ebola outbreak has the potential to be one of the largest ever.
In DR Congo, cases are currently concentrated in the eastern provinces of Ituri, South Kivu and North Kivu.
Ituri remains the main centre of transmission, accounting for more than 90% of confirmed infections.
Source: Saudi Gazette