France on Wednesday announced its first confirmed case of Ebola detected on its territory, involving a doctor who recently returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is battling a major outbreak of the disease.
The case is the first of the deadly haemorrhagic fever to be identified outside the African continent during the current outbreak, which has also affected Uganda.
It is also the first time Ebola has been detected in France.
In 2014, during a major outbreak in West Africa, two patients were transported to France, but they had already been diagnosed abroad.
The French health ministry “confirms today the identification of a first positive case of Ebola virus disease on national territory”, according to a statement.
Contacted by AFP, the ministry confirmed that the case was identified in mainland France.
The doctor was isolated upon arrival in France, even before the disease was officially confirmed, the ministry added.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is monitoring the situation “very closely”, his office said.
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s 17th Ebola outbreak was declared on May 15 after several unexplained deaths in the mineral-rich but volatile eastern Ituri Province.
The Bundibugyo strain of the virus responsible for the outbreak currently has no approved vaccine or treatment.
Public health experts estimate that the risk of the outbreak spreading globally remains low because the Ebola virus is relatively less contagious than many other infectious diseases.
AFP
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