Briton with Ebola arrives in London from Sierra Leone

A British nurse who contracted
the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone arrived in London by
military plane on Sunday, BBC news reported.
The patient, who is not “seriously unwell” according
to the Department of Health, is to be treated at an
isolation unit at a London hospital.
A spokesman for Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health,
Yahya Tunis, said the man was a volunteer nurse
working in Kenema in eastern Sierra Leone, one of
the areas hardest hit by Ebola which has now been
quarantined.
“His colleagues are very sad over the development
as he is considered as a valued member,” Tunis
said, adding that he was involved in “surveillance,
contact tracing and the burial of Ebola victims”.
The Briton is the first person from the country to
have contracted the virus in an outbreak that has
killed at least 1,427 people in West Africa since
March.
The Department of Health said the victim was
evacuated in a specially equipped C17 Royal Air
Force military plane to RAF Northolt outside London.
The victim was to be taken in a special military
ambulance to Britain’s only specialist Ebola isolation
unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
England’s deputy chief medical officer Professor
John Watson insisted that the risk of the virus being
spread in Britain remained “very low”.
“UK hospitals have a proven record of dealing with
imported infectious diseases and this patient will be
isolated and will receive the best care possible,” he
added.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with the blood
or bodily fluids of an infected person.
The Ebola epidemic has spread through Liberia,
Guinea and Sierra Leone, while Nigeria has also
been affected. It is the worst-ever outbreak of the
killer virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned it
could take several months to bring the epidemic
under control.