A patient in France has tested positive for Ebola after returning from a humanitarian mission in an area where the virus is circulating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the French Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
It marks the first reported case in France and the first to test positive outside of Africa amid the second large Ebola outbreak on record in DRC. The outbreak is driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus, which has no vaccine or specific treatment. At least 267 people in DRC and two in Uganda have died in the outbreak, according to the latest CDC data. More than 1,000 cases have been confirmed in DRC.
The patient in France, who has not been publicly identified, is in stable condition after being “immediately admitted to a specialized facility” upon their return, the French Health Ministry said in a statement.
“All precautionary measures – specifically patient isolation – were implemented immediately upon arrival in the country, including a secure hospital transfer to prevent any risk of transmission,” the ministry said. “A thorough epidemiological investigation is underway to identify individuals who may have been in contact with the patient.”
Any individuals who may have had contact with the patient will undergo a 21-day period of home isolation, during which they will be closely monitored by health authorities.
The ministry reiterated that European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has assessed the risk of Ebola infection as “very low for the general European population” and that France has established a monitoring system for French humanitarian workers returning to the country.
Earlier this year, European authorities handled another case of Ebola, as American doctor Peter Stafford contracted the disease while working in DRC, was evacuated and underwent treatment in Germany. Stafford was released from the hospital and returned to the United States earlier in June.
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