British doctor with Ebola arrives back in UK from DR Congo

A British medical doctor who was working on the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo has returned to the UK for specialist treatment after testing positive for the disease. The UK government worked with the DR Congo government and international health partners to bring the patient home safely on a medical evacuation flight. The journey followed established infection prevention and control procedures, which also apply to everyone involved in the individual’s care. He is now being cared for in a high-level isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital, London. This unit is highly specialised and specifically designed for this purpose, staffed by expert clinical teams. The man, who has not been identified, landed at RAF Northolt before being transported by ambulance to the hospital, which has successfully treated three previous cases of Ebola in the past. No one in the UK has ever died of the virus, which is currently spreading in the DR Congo and has led to more than 10,000 cases and 5,000 deaths since it began in May. This man is the first British citizen to contract the virus during this outbreak, though three health workers from the UK were infected during the 2014-2015 outbreak in West Africa. Since the beginning of this outbreak, Ebola cases have also been confirmed in Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda. Ebola has a high fatality rate, with this outbreak resulting in death in 48.6 per cent of those who contract the virus and previous outbreaks having a rate of up to 90 per cent. Dr Renu Bindra, Deputy Director All Hazards Public Health Response at UKHSA, said: “UKHSA and the NHS have well-established and robust infection prevention and control protocols to limit the risk of onward transmission, and the risk to the wider public remains low.” Ebola does not spread through the air, it is passed on through direct contact with the bodily fluids of a person who has symptoms. The Royal Free Hospital isolation unit has strict isolation protocols in place to prevent the patient coming into contact with any members of the public, and all staff treating the patient are equipped with personal protective equipment alongside other measures to prevent transmission. Professor Emma Thomson, director of the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, said: “The UK is extremely well prepared to care for patients with Ebola. “Although Bundibugyo virus, the cause of the current outbreak, can cause severe disease and is highly infectious through direct contact with infected bodily fluids, the Royal Free has state-of-the-art isolation facilities and highly experienced clinical teams.”