UK Resident with No Ebola Symptoms Evacuated to London for Monitoring

A UK resident who treated patients with Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been placed under isolation in a London hospital after a chartered medical evacuation. The UK Health Security Agency said the individual shows no symptoms and remains well, with monitoring to continue for three weeks to cover the virus incubation period of two to 21 days.

UKHSA director of epidemic and emerging infections Richard Pebody said the risk to the general public remains low.

"This individual has been transferred out of an abundance of caution, and we're pleased they remain well," he stated. The current outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which has no vaccine or specific treatment. The outbreak was first confirmed by DR Congo and Uganda on May 15 and has recorded more confirmed cases in its first month than any previous wave, according to the World Health Organisation.

Confirmed cases in DR Congo total 2,423, including 967 deaths, government data show. France confirmed its first case last month after a doctor tested positive following return from DR Congo. A US citizen was treated for Ebola in Germany and later discharged after no virus was detected.

Médecins Sans Frontières emergency programme manager Trish Newport said every delay costs lives. "We are still chasing the outbreak instead of staying ahead of it," she stated. Ebola spreads through direct contact with the blood, bodily fluids or organs of infected people or animals.

It is not transmitted through the air, water or food. The average fatality rate is around 50 per cent, varying between 25 and 90 per cent depending on strain and medical response.