British Ebola patient arrives in UK for treatment

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A British man who contracted the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone has arrived back in the UK on board an RAF jet. The healthcare worker landed at London’s RAF Northolt in a specially-equipped C-17 aircraft and will be transported to an isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in north London. The man is “not currently seriously unwell”, a Department of Health spokesman said. Health officials have stressed the risk to the UK remains “very low”.

 The DoH said the decision to return the patient to the UK was taken following “clinical advice”. Prof John Watson, DoH deputy chief medical officer, said they would be taken in a specially-adapted ambulance to a high level isolation unit – the only unit of its kind in the UK.

 ‘Best care possible’ It is the first confirmed case of a Briton contracting the virus during the current outbreak, in which 1,427 people have died. The World Health Organization has estimated 2,615 people in West Africa have been infected with Ebola since March. Health officials reported the first cases outside West Africa – in the Democratic Republic of Congo – on Sunday.

 The virus, for which there is no cure, is spread between humans through direct contact with infected bloodily fluids. It is one of the world’s deadliest diseases, with up to 90% of cases resulting in death. A statement from Sierra Leone’s health ministry said the Briton had been volunteering at a clinic in the Kenema district of the country. Sidie Yayah Tunis, director of communications at the health ministry, said the patient had been flown out of the country’s main airport in the town of Lungi on Sunday.