SerpApi.Org
A UK humanitarian worker is being monitored for Ebola at a London hospital after being evacuated from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The affected person works for an organisation supporting the response in the central African nation, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said. They are in isolation but are not displaying any symptoms and remain well.
There are currently no confirmed cases of Ebola in the UK and the risk to the general public remains low, the UKHSA said.
Medical evacuation has been arranged as a highly precautionary measure following a potential healthcare-related exposure to Ebola.
It follows outbreaks of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
Last month, a Glasgow hospital ward was placed in lockdown after a case of suspected Ebola was detected.
Richard Pebody, epidemics director at UKHSA, said: “The risk to the general public remains low. This individual has been transferred out of an abundance of caution, and we’re pleased they remain well.”
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Early symptoms of the disease include fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headaches and sore throats, according to the World Health Organisation, and can be difficult to distinguish from other illnesses such as malaria.
Symptoms then evolve to vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach pain, and bleeding or bruising.
The current outbreak, of the Bundibugyo species of the illness, has a fatality rate of 40 per cent, making it less deadly than more common Ebola species such as Zaire, which is fatal in up to 90 per cent of cases.
There have been just three recorded Ebola cases in the UK. In 2014, Pauline Cafferkey, a Scottish aid worker who had returned from Sierra Leone, was diagnosed with Ebola virus at Gartnavel General Hospital in Glasgow.
William Pooley, a nurse who contracted the disease in 2014, and Anna Cross, a military health worker who tested positive in 2015, were both treated in the Royal Free Hospital in London.
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