First Ebola case confirmed in France, health ministry says

A doctor returning from a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has tested positive for Ebola after arriving in France, the Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday. This is the first case detected on European soil since the start of the current outbreak in Central Africa."All precautionary measures, in particular isolating the patient, were taken as soon as he arrived in France, and he was transferred to hospital under secure conditions to avoid any risk of infection," the ministry said.To limit the risk of local transmission, French authorities started an epidemiological investigation to identify anyone who may have been in contact with the patient."These people will be contacted without delay by the regional health agency, will be required to self-isolate at home for 21 days and will be closely monitored during this period," the ministry added.France's health ministry stressed that the risk to the population was "very low".Last month, an American doctor who tested positive in DRC was treated at Berlin’s Charité university hospital, Germany.The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has assessed the risk of infection as low for European residents and for travellers going to areas of active transmission, and very low for the general European population.The risk to the general population is therefore considered very low, as Ebola is not transmitted through the air but by direct contact with the bodily fluids of a sick person.The situation in the DRCMore than 1,000 confirmed cases and at least 260 deaths have been recorded since the official declaration of the outbreak in mid-May, making this outbreak the largest ever recorded in its first month.The disease is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment. Health authorities are struggling to curb the spread of the virus in Ituri province, the epicentre of the outbreak, where population movements linked to armed conflict are complicating the work of medical teams.Just over half of high-risk contacts have so far been identified and are being monitored, while the exact origin of the outbreak remains unknown.The situation is particularly worrying in the displacement camps, where overcrowding is fuelling infections.The World Health Organization (WHO) fears the crisis could spread across the region, as several cases have already been detected in neighbouring Uganda.