A healthcare worker who returned from Sierra Leone on Sunday night has been diagnosed with Ebola and is receiving treatment in Glasgow, the Scottish government has said.
The patient has been isolated and is receiving treatment in the specialist Brownlee unit for infectious diseases on the Gartnavel hospital campus.
In a statement the Scottish government said the patient was a healthcare worker who was helping to combat the disease in west Africa. The patient – whose gender has not been disclosed – returned to Scotland from Sierra Leone late on Sunday night via Casablanca and London Heathrow, arriving at Glasgow airport on a British Airways flight at about 11.30pm.
The patient was admitted to hospital early on Monday morning after feeling unwell and was put in isolation at 7.50am.
The Scottish government added: “All possible contacts with the patient are now being investigated and anyone deemed to be at risk will be contacted and closely monitored. However, having been diagnosed in the very early stages of the illness, the risk to others is considered extremely low.”
The first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has chaired a meeting of the Scottish government resilience committee to ensure all necessary steps are being taken, and has also spoken to the prime minister, David Cameron.
According to UK and Scottish protocol for anyone diagnosed with Ebola, the patient will be transferred to the high-level isolation unit in the Royal Free hospital, London, as soon as possible. This is where the facilities, staff and systems are in place to ensure the best quality and safest care. The British nurse William Pooley was successfully treated at the hospital after he contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone last year.
TheGuardian
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