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France has confirmed its first case of Ebola after a doctor returned from a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo carrying the virus. The French health ministry said the patient was admitted without delay to a specialist treatment unit and remains in stable condition.
Officials emphasized that the threat to the public is considered very low. Health authorities have begun tracing anyone who may have come into contact with the doctor, while France has introduced a dedicated monitoring program for aid workers returning from DR Congo.
The outbreak in DR Congo was officially declared last month, although specialists believe the virus had already been spreading for several weeks before it was detected. More than 1,000 infections have been recorded, with over 260 people losing their lives.
This is the first confirmed Ebola case in Europe linked to the current outbreak. An American doctor who contracted the virus while working in DR Congo received treatment in Germany last month after testing positive there.
The disease has also crossed into Uganda, where health officials have confirmed 20 infections and two deaths, according to the World Health Organization. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the risk beyond the affected countries remains low and urged people not to panic.
Medical staff continue to face some of the greatest danger because Ebola spreads through contact with infected bodily fluids. Last week, the WHO reported that 17 of the 75 healthcare workers infected during the outbreak in DR Congo had died.
The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, for which no approved vaccine is currently available. Both the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. public health authorities have warned that the outbreak could become one of the largest on record.
Most infections remain concentrated in the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu. Ituri accounts for more than 90 percent of all confirmed cases and continues to be the main area of transmission.
