Briton contracts Ebola in DR Congo: first case among UK citizens in the current outbreak

A confirmed case in a British citizen

The UK government has confirmed that a British citizen in the Democratic Republic of Congo has tested positive for the Ebola virus. This is the first confirmed case of infection in a UK citizen during the current outbreak, BBC News reports. An official spokesperson said that 'the UK has well-established procedures for such cases' and that they have been activated, while the risk to the country's population remains low.

Who the patient is and what will happen to them

The Foreign Office declined to confirm whether the patient will be brought to the UK for treatment, although a Briton who had contact with the virus in July was previously evacuated home for medical care. The Reuters news agency, citing an internal document that BBC News has not seen, reported that the patient is a healthcare worker and that there are plans to bring them to the UK. Thus, the question of transportation remains open at the level of official confirmations: the government speaks only of activated procedures, while the information about the healthcare worker and the evacuation relies on an unpublished document as reported by Reuters.

The scale of the outbreak

The outbreak in the DR Congo began in May; since then, more than 10,000 confirmed cases have been registered. It has become the deadliest in the country's history: at the end of last month, a fatality rate of 48.6% was reported, and the total death toll exceeded 5,000 people. It was against this backdrop that the first case in a foreign national received widespread coverage, although British authorities stress that the risk to the public within the country is assessed as low.

Image source, EPA