Tuesday, 30 December 2014 00:00

Doctors in Scotland confirm country's first Ebola case

Written by Doug Stanglin | USA Today

A health worker who just returned to Scotland from Sierra Leone has been diagnosed as the country's first Ebola case, Scottish authorities said Monday. The Scottish government said on its website that infectious-disease procedures have been put into effect, and the patient has been isolated and is being treated on the Gartnavel Hospital campus in Glasgow.

A spokeswoman for Save the Children told The Independent that the patient is a female nurse who worked at the organization's Ebola hospital in Kerry Town, near the capital of Freetown.

The patient, who was not identified by the Scottish government either by name or nationality, will be transferred to the high-level isolation unit in the Royal Free Hospital in London as soon as possible, the government statement said.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called it the first case of Ebola ever diagnosed inside the United Kingdom. She said the risk to the public is "extremely low to the point of negligible" and pre-planned steps would be taken to protect the public.

"Scotland has been preparing for this possibility from the beginning of the outbreak in West Africa, and I am confident that we are well-prepared," Sturgeon said, adding that the patient is "stable."

The first minister said the patient had only had contact with one other person in Scotland and that person's health will be monitored. The patient became ill Monday morning and contacted health officials.

The patient arrived at Glasgow airport Sunday evening near midnight. The patient flew to Scotland via Casablanca and London's Heathrow airport.

"The patient was admitted to hospital early in the morning (Monday) after feeling unwell and was placed into isolation at 7.50 a.m.," the government said in its statement. "All possible contacts with the patient are now being investigated and anyone deemed to be at risk will be contacted and closely monitored. However, having been diagnosed in the very early stages of the illness, the risk to others is considered extremely low."

Prime Minister David Cameron said all measures will be taken to protect the public.

Since an Ebola outbreak began in December 2013 in the West African country of Guinea, there have been more than 20,000 cases and more than 7,800 deaths, mostly in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

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