British healthcare worker infected with Ebola in DR Congo is to be flown to a specialist UK infectious disease unit
An Ebola isolation tent in Nigeria. The Bundibugyo strain driving the DRC outbreak, which has killed more than 5,100 people, has already spread beyond the DRC to Kenya and Nigeria.
The unnamed British healthcare worker, deployed to the Democratic Republic of Congo by a humanitarian organisation to help fight the outbreak, tested positive on Wednesday and is currently in a stable condition. UK authorities said the case is unlikely to pose a serious public health risk and that neither international travel nor trade should face any disruption.
The DRC outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain with a fatality rate of around 49 per cent, has killed someone every 30 minutes, the UN warns.
No approved vaccine or specific treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain, though scientists are racing to develop one.
Africa warned last week that the UK is 'not safe' from the 'unprecedented' spread, which has now crossed into Kenya and Nigeria.
