Suspected Ebola case is being monitored at a London hospital after ‘exposure in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’

A suspected case of Ebola is being monitored at a London hospital after a humanitarian worker in the Democratic Republic of Congo was ‘exposed’ to the disease, the UK Health Safety Agency said.

The British national was working in the African country as part of a humanitarian organization when it was feared he had contracted the disease.

The agency said the man was evacuated on a scheduled flight as a precautionary measure and is currently being ‘monitored and evaluated’ by specialists in a hospital in the capital.

The worker is currently asymptomatic and ‘well’.

According to reports, not a single case of Ebola has been recorded in Britain since 2015, when three healthcare workers returned from Africa with the disease.

UKHSA Director of Epidemics and Emerging Infections Richard Pebody said: ‘The risk to the public remains low.

‘This person was transferred out of an abundance of caution and we are pleased he is doing well.’

DR Congo has been grappling for weeks with an Ebola outbreak that is spreading ‘significantly faster’ than anything that came before.

The country’s health ministry said the disease has claimed 930 lives so far, following 2,344 cases reported last Saturday.

The outbreak was first declared in the country’s eastern region on May 15 and has since become the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record.

It has been reported that there have been 20 confirmed cases outside the Democratic Republic of Congo so far, causing two deaths, one in Uganda and the other in France.

The Democratic Republic’s Ministry of Health said on Monday: ‘Patient care and support capacities are strengthening, with 22 new recoveries recorded in 24 hours.’

Just last month it was feared that a patient at a hospital in Scotland had contracted the fatal disease.

Part of Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow was sealed off after a man reported to the Acute Reception Unit in late June.

The patient reportedly returned to the city after visiting an Ebola-affected country and sought medical attention after developing worrying symptoms. However, the person’s final test came back negative.

Ebola is transmitted through blood or body fluids of symptomatic individuals or direct contact with contaminated objects.

The outbreak in Congo was caused by Bundibugyo virus, an unusual disease that killed an estimated 30 percent of those it infected during two preliminary outbreaks in 2007 and 2012.

There is currently no vaccine to combat the virus that has spread to the Democratic Republic of Congo, but scientists at Oxford University are working on a vaccine.

They are currently working to assess how safe their vaccine is and are recruiting volunteers for a trial scheduled to begin in a few weeks.

Ebola viruses naturally infect animals, but humans can become infected through close contact.

This is breaking news, more to come.