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British Ebola patient to fly to UK British Ebola patient to fly to UK
(35 minutes later)
A Briton who contracted the deadly Ebola virus in Sierra Leone is being evacuated to the UK, the African country's health ministry has said. A Briton who contracted the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone is being flown back to the UK on an RAF jet, the UK Department for Health has said.
Sidie Yayah Tunis, director of communications for the ministry, said the man was being transported on an RAF aircraft. The patient, who is a healthcare worker, is to be flown to RAF Northolt and will then transported to an isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in north London.
It is understood he could be treated at an isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in north London. The Briton is "not currently seriously unwell", a spokesman said.
Health chiefs say the risk to the UK remains "very low". Health chiefs say the risk to the UK from the virus remains "very low".
The Department for Health said the patient was being "medically evacuated" in a specially equipped C17 RAF aircraft following "clinical advice".
It is the first confirmed case of a Briton contracting the virus, for which there is no cure, during the latest outbreak.
The virus - one of the world's deadliest diseases - is spread between humans through direct contact with infected bloodily fluids.
So far 1,427 people in West Africa have died - more than in any other Ebola outbreak.
A statement from Sierra Leone's health ministry said the Briton had been volunteering at a clinic in the Kenema district of Sierra Leone.
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.
Dr Paul Cosford, director for health protection at Public Health England, said the Briton was being transferred with "all appropriate protocols promptly activated" by UK health agencies.
"Protective measures will be strictly maintained to minimise the risk of transmission to staff transporting the patient to the UK and healthcare workers treating the individual.
"UK hospitals have a proven record of dealing with imported infectious diseases and this patient will be isolated and will receive the best care possible," Dr Cosford said.
Professor John Watson, deputy chief medical officer for the Department of Health, said the UK had "robust, well-developed and well-tested NHS systems for managing unusual infectious diseases".
"It is important to be reassured that although a case of Ebola in a British national healthcare worker residing in Sierra Leone has been identified and is being brought back to the UK the overall risk to the public in the UK remains very low," he added.