LONDON: The Ebola virus has finally reached the United Kingdom. Scottish nurse PaulineCafferkey has been named as the first patient with Ebola in the UK.
She was diagnosed with the disease after returning from volunteering in Sierra Leone.
Cafferkey (39) maintained an online diary of her work treating Ebola patients before she was diagnosed with the disease.
Cafferkey is now being treated at the Royal Free Hospital in north London. She was transferred on a military-style plane from her local hospital in Glasgow on Tuesday.
Six police cars accompanied two ambulances as she was taken to Glasgow airport. From there she was taken to the air force base in west London and transferred to the isolation unit at the north London hospital.
NHS Scotland said infectious diseases procedures have now been put into effect and the patient has been isolated. She was earlier receiving treatment in the specialist Brownlee Unit for Infectious Diseases on the Gartnavel Hospital campus.
NHS Scotland said, "The patient is a health care worker who was helping to combat the disease in West Africa. They returned to Scotland from Sierra Leone late last night via Casablanca to London Heathrow on Royal Air Maroc, then from Heathrow to Glasgow on a British Airways flight arriving at around 11.30pm."
The patient was admitted to hospital early in the morning after feeling unwell and was placed into isolation at 7.50 am. All possible contacts with the patient are now being investigated and anyone deemed to be at risk will be contacted and closely monitored.
"But having been diagnosed in the very early stages of the illness, the risk to others is considered extremely low," the NHS said.
First minister Nicola Sturgeon has chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government Resilience Committee to ensure all necessary steps are being taken and has also spoken to British prime minister David Cameron.
Sturgeon said "Scotland has been preparing for this possibility from the beginning of the outbreak in West Africa and I am confident that we are well prepared. We have the robust procedures in place to identify cases rapidly. Our health service also has the expertise and facilities to ensure that confirmed Ebola cases such as this are contained and isolated effectively minimizing any potential spread of the disease."
A Downing Street spokesman said, "The Prime Minister has called the first minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon regarding the confirmed case of Ebola in Scotland. The PM made clear that the UK government stood ready to assist in any way possible. They agreed that both governments would remain in close touch and ensure everything possible was done to support the patient and, although the risk to the general population remained low, all measures would be taken to protect public health."
UK Health secretary Jeremy Hunt said, "We are also reviewing our procedures and protocols for all the other NHS workers who are working at the moment in Sierra Leone."
Cameron is chairing a Cobra meeting to discuss the matter later on Tuesda
LONDON: The Ebola virus has finally reached the United Kingdom. Scottish nurse PaulineCafferkey has been named as the first patient with Ebola in the UK.
She was diagnosed with the disease after returning from volunteering in Sierra Leone.
Cafferkey (39) maintained an online diary of her work treating Ebola patients before she was diagnosed with the disease.
Cafferkey is now being treated at the Royal Free Hospital in north London. She was transferred on a military-style plane from her local hospital in Glasgow on Tuesday.
Six police cars accompanied two ambulances as she was taken to Glasgow airport. From there she was taken to the air force base in west London and transferred to the isolation unit at the north London hospital.
NHS Scotland said infectious diseases procedures have now been put into effect and the patient has been isolated. She was earlier receiving treatment in the specialist Brownlee Unit for Infectious Diseases on the Gartnavel Hospital campus.
NHS Scotland said, "The patient is a health care worker who was helping to combat the disease in West Africa. They returned to Scotland from Sierra Leone late last night via Casablanca to London Heathrow on Royal Air Maroc, then from Heathrow to Glasgow on a British Airways flight arriving at around 11.30pm."
The patient was admitted to hospital early in the morning after feeling unwell and was placed into isolation at 7.50 am. All possible contacts with the patient are now being investigated and anyone deemed to be at risk will be contacted and closely monitored.
"But having been diagnosed in the very early stages of the illness, the risk to others is considered extremely low," the NHS said.
First minister Nicola Sturgeon has chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government Resilience Committee to ensure all necessary steps are being taken and has also spoken to British prime minister David Cameron.
Sturgeon said "Scotland has been preparing for this possibility from the beginning of the outbreak in West Africa and I am confident that we are well prepared. We have the robust procedures in place to identify cases rapidly. Our health service also has the expertise and facilities to ensure that confirmed Ebola cases such as this are contained and isolated effectively minimizing any potential spread of the disease."
A Downing Street spokesman said, "The Prime Minister has called the first minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon regarding the confirmed case of Ebola in Scotland. The PM made clear that the UK government stood ready to assist in any way possible. They agreed that both governments would remain in close touch and ensure everything possible was done to support the patient and, although the risk to the general population remained low, all measures would be taken to protect public health."
UK Health secretary Jeremy Hunt said, "We are also reviewing our procedures and protocols for all the other NHS workers who are working at the moment in Sierra Leone."
Cameron is chairing a Cobra meeting to discuss the matter later on Tuesda
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