A doctor returning from the Democratic Republic of the Congo has tested positive for Ebola, the French health ministry announced on Wednesday, marking the first case of the hemorrhagic fever ever detected in France.
The case is also the first confirmed outside the African continent during the current outbreak in the DRC. In 2014, during a major outbreak in West Africa, two Ebola patients were treated in France after being diagnosed abroad, but no cases had been identified on French soil until now.
The ministry of health said the doctor was isolated on arrival in France, even before the disease was officially identified. No details were given on the doctor’s condition or where they are being treated.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is monitoring the situation “very closely,” his office said.
More than 1,000 cases of Ebola, including 267 deaths, have been identified in the DRC since the outbreak was announced in mid-May. Uganda has confirmed 20 cases and two deaths.
Health officials say the current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, which currently has no approved vaccine or treatment.
Public health experts say the risk of the outbreak spreading worldwide remains low due to the relatively low contagiousness of the Ebola virus, which spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids of infected people.
French health authorities have not announced additional precautionary measures but said contact tracing and monitoring protocols are underway.
The World Health Organization has not yet commented on the French case.
Source: Africanews
