London: A healthcare worker who just returned from Sierra Leone is being treated for Ebola at a hospital in Glasgow, the Scottish government said Monday.
The woman, whose name was not disclosed, arrived at Glasgow Airport late Sunday night aboard a British Airways flight that made stops in Casablanca, Morocco, and at London's Heathrow Airport.
She fell ill early Monday and was placed in isolation in the Brownlee Unit for Infectious Diseases on the Gartnavel Hospital campus, the Scottish government said in a statement.
"All possible contacts with the patient are now being investigated and anyone deemed to be at risk will be contacted and closely monitored. However, having been diagnosed in the very early stages of the illness, the risk to others is considered extremely low," the statement 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," Scotland's government said.In accord with the established protocol for Ebola cases, the patient is to be transferred as quickly as possible to a special unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
Another British healthcare worker, William Pooley, was diagnosed with Ebola in August while volunteering in Sierra Leone.Pooley, 29, was flown back to London and underwent successful treatment at the Royal Free Hospital with the experimental drug ZMapp.
He was discharged in September.The Ebola virus has killed 7,842 people in West Africa, according to the latest figures compiled by the World Health Organisation.
