A patient in France has tested positive for Ebola after returning from a humanitarian mission in an area where the virus is circulating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the French Health Ministry said on Wednesday
It marks the first reported case in France and the first to test positive outside of Africa amid the second large Ebola outbreak on record in DRC. The outbreak is driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus, which has no vaccine or specific treatment. At least 277 people in DRC and two in Uganda have died in the outbreak, according to the latest World Health Organization data. More than 1,000 cases have been confirmed in DRC.
The patient in France, who has not been publicly identified, is in stable condition after being “immediately admitted to a specialized facility” upon their return, the French Health Ministry said in a statement
“All precautionary measures – specifically patient isolation – were implemented immediately upon arrival in the country, including a secure hospital transfer to prevent any risk of transmission,” the ministry said. “A thorough epidemiological investigation is underway to identify individuals who may have been in contact with the patient.”
Any individuals who may have had contact with the patient will undergo a 21-day period of home isolation, during which they will be closely monitored by health authorities
The ministry reiterated that European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has assessed the risk of Ebola infection as “very low for the general European population” and that France has established a monitoring system for French humanitarian workers returning to the country
Earlier this year, European authorities handled another case of Ebola, as American doctor Peter Stafford contracted the disease while working in DRC, was evacuated and underwent treatment in Germany. Stafford was released from the hospital and returned to the United States earlier in June
Meanwhile, WHO officials warned on Wednesday that the “outbreak is continuing to outpace the response” inside DRC
Trials for two antivirals are expected to start next week, officials said. The therapies will be offered to people with confirmed cases to test if they are safe and effective at treating the Bundibugyo virus, either alone or in combination
Other response efforts have scaled up significantly since the start of the outbreak, officials said, but contact tracing continues to lag
“The challenge with Ebola is that even 99.9% is not good enough. We have to keep pushing to the very end to get all new cases emerging from known contact lists, which is the most important criteria for success of an Ebola response,” Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, head of the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, said on Wednesday
Still, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that the international risk remains low
“Whenever a case happens in Europe or other parts of the world outside Africa, I see overreaction, but I don’t think overreaction is needed,” he said at a news conference Wednesday. Less than 30 Ebola cases have been reported outside of Africa since the first outbreak about a half century ago, he said
“No need for panic,” Tedros said
