Scotland confirms first case of Ebola
Date December 30, 2014 - 7:39AM
The Ebola patient is being treated at Gartnavel Royal Hospital in Glasgow. Photo: AP
London: A healthcare worker has been diagnosed with Ebola a day after flying home to Glasgow from Sierra Leone, the Scottish government said.
The patient is being treated in isolation at Glasgow's Gartnavel Hospital, having flown back to Scotland's largest city late on Sunday on a British Airways flight via Casablanca in Morocco and London's Heathrow.
The health worker was admitted to hospital early on Monday morning after feeling unwell and was placed into isolation at 7.50am.
"All possible contacts with the patient are now being investigated and anyone deemed to be at risk will be contacted and closely monitored," the Scottish government said in a statement. "However, having been diagnosed in the very early stages of the illness, the risk to others is considered extremely low."
It is Scotland's first case of Ebola.
"Our first thoughts at this time must be with the patient diagnosed with Ebola and their friends and family," said Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. "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."
The patient, whom BBC sources described as a female aid worker, will be transferred to a high-level isolation unit in the Royal Free hospital in London.
British Airways said in a statement that 71 passengers were on the aircraft.
"We are working closely with the health authorities in England and Scotland, and will offer assistance with any information they require," the airline said. "The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority, and the risk to people on board that individual flight is extremely low."
In August, another British aid worker, William Pooley, contracted the disease after working Sierra Leone. He was discharged in September after treatment at the Royal Free hospital.
With more than 9000 cases, Sierra Leone now accounts for nearly half of the known cases of Ebola in this year's West African outbreak, the worst ever.
The World Health Organisation on Monday said the number of people infected by Ebola in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - the countries worst affected by the outbreak - has passed 20,000, with more than 7842 deaths in the epidemic so far.
Reuters, PA, Los Angeles Times
