France reports first Ebola case outside Africa in current outbreak

France announced on Wednesday that it had confirmed its first Ebola case on its soil, involving a doctor who had returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a major outbreak is underway.

This is the first instance of the deadly haemorrhagic fever being identified outside Africa during the current outbreak, which has also reached Uganda.

It marks the first time Ebola has been detected in France.

During the 2014 West African outbreak, two patients were brought to France, but they had already been diagnosed abroad.

The health ministry “confirms today the identification of a first positive case of Ebola virus disease on national territory”, the statement read.

Contacted by AFP, the ministry added that the case was identified in mainland France.

The doctor was isolated upon arrival in France, even before the disease was officially confirmed, the ministry said.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is monitoring the situation “very closely”, his office said.

The DRC’s 17th Ebola outbreak was declared on May 15 after several unexplained deaths in the mineral‑rich but volatile eastern Ituri province.

The Bundibugyo strain of the virus that has caused the outbreak currently has no approved vaccine or treatment.

Public‑health experts estimate that the risk of the outbreak spreading worldwide remains low, owing to the relatively low contagiousness of the Ebola virus.

AFP