France confirms first Ebola Bundibugyo case outside Africa, doctor returned from DR Congo mission
A doctor who returned to France from a humanitarian mission in DR Congo has tested positive for Ebola, the first case of the current outbreak detected outside Africa. The strain is Bundibugyo, with no approved vaccine or treatment. Contacts face 21-day isolation. Source: France 2
A doctor who recently returned to France after a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has tested positive for Ebola, French health authorities confirmed on 24 June. It is the first case of the current outbreak detected outside the African continent. The infection involves the Bundibugyo species of the virus, one for which there is no approved vaccine and no specific approved treatment, though candidate therapies are under investigation. The doctor had been working in an area of the DRC where the virus is circulating. The same outbreak has also reached neighbouring Uganda. According to France 24 and Al Jazeera, the patient was placed in isolation immediately on arrival and is being treated under strict biosafety protocols at a specialist facility. An epidemiological investigation is now identifying people who may have been in contact with the patient. Those individuals will be asked to self-isolate for 21 days, the length of Ebola maximum incubation period. Source: France 24, Al Jazeera.