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.