British citizen infected with Ebola in DR Congo to be flown back to UK

A British citizen working in the Democratic Republic of Congo has tested positive for Ebola, the Government has confirmed. The patient, identified as a healthcare worker by Reuters, is said to be in a stable condition. He is expected to be flown back to Britain by medical evacuation, with the agency reporting documents as showing he will arrive in ⁠Britain on Wednesday or Thursday before being taken by a specialist ambulance to a high-consequence infectious disease unit. Some 5,000 people have died in the ongoing outbreak of the rare but deadly disease in DR Congo, West Africa, with more than 10,000 confirmed cases. A Government spokesperson said: “A British citizen currently in the DRC has tested positive for Ebola. “The UK has well-established procedures for dealing with cases like this, and those processes have been activated. “Further information will be shared in due course as appropriate. The risk to the UK public from Ebola remains low.” In response to questions about the patient, the World Health Organization said: “WHO has supported several medical ‌evacuations at the request of partners and governments.” Ebola is a severe viral disease spread through direct contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids. WHO says the disease is fatal in about half of cases on average, although mortality rates vary between outbreaks. Only four cases of Ebola have ever been confirmed in the UK, including three involving health workers who responded to the outbreak in West Africa between 2014 and 2015. It is the first case involving a British national linked to the current outbreak, although several other people from elsewhere in Europe have been infected. Switzerland last month evacuated an ⁠Ebola patient from Nigeria for treatment, while France in June reported its first confirmed case tied to the outbreak in a doctor returning from a humanitarian mission in Congo. British health authorities say the risk ‌to the wider public from imported Ebola cases remains low and the National ​Health Service has procedures in place to manage suspected and confirmed infections.