France says doctor returned from DR Congo has Ebola
A doctor who recently returned to France from a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo has tested positive for Ebola, the health ministry said, making it the first confirmed case linked to the current outbreak in the country.
The patient was placed in isolation and health authorities were tracing contacts, the ministry said in a statement, adding that the risk to the wider European population was low.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday there was no need to panic.
Tedros said at a press conference that fewer than 30 Ebola cases have been detected outside Africa in the last 50 years.
“(It) means the risk (to the rest of the world) is low, whether it’s France or other countries in Europe, they shouldn’t overreact, that’s my advice,” he told reporters.
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is linked to the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus.
The virus has infected more than 1,000 people and killed 267, the World Health Organization said this week, making it the highest number of confirmed cases in the first month of any episode of the disease.
Experts say the disease was likely circulating for months before it was officially declared May 15.
Early confirmed cases were detected in urban areas, and infections have since been reported in at least three densely populated displacement camps.
The two previous largest Ebola outbreaks occurred in West Africa (in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia between 2014 and 2016) and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2018.
A US citizen who was treated for Ebola in Germany was discharged at the beginning of this month after no virus was detected in the patient since May 30.
Tedros said earlier Wednesday that the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda continues to outpace response efforts.
“Despite the good progress we have made, we still face major challenges and the epidemic continues to outpace the response,” Tedros said. he said.
“With contact tracing inadequate, treatment capacity inadequate and the healthcare system under pressure, safe burials remain a major challenge,” he told reporters.
