British Man Treated for Ebola in Congo to Be Evacuated to UK

LONDON – A British man receiving treatment for Ebola in Congo is being transported to the United Kingdom, the British government said Thursday.

The man, who is reportedly a healthcare worker, is the first British patient evacuated from the latest Ebola outbreak. He is also the third person infected during the outbreak to be brought to Europe for medical care.

Officials expect him to be admitted to London’s Royal Free Hospital, home to a high-level isolation unit that treated Ebola patients during the major West African outbreak from 2014 to 2015.

The Foreign Office said the United Kingdom had activated its infectious-disease response procedures, while emphasizing that the risk Ebola poses to the wider public remains low.

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France reported an Ebola case in June involving a doctor who had returned from a humanitarian mission in Congo. The doctor has since recovered. Last month, a Swiss woman thought to have contracted Ebola in Uganda was flown to Geneva for treatment, while her husband, a diplomat, was placed in isolation in Zurich.

The outbreak, which has affected some of Congo’s most remote provinces, has infected 10,600 people and killed more than 5,100. The virus has been detected in 67 health zones across eight provinces, expanding from just three zones when the outbreak was declared in May.

“The infection of a British healthcare worker with Ebola is deeply concerning, but it is not entirely unexpected,” said Dr. Damien Tully, an infectious disease expert at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. “Healthcare workers are on the front line of these outbreaks, often caring for critically ill patients in extremely difficult circumstances. Even when strict protective procedures are followed, accidental exposure can still happen.”