A British healthcare worker is being monitored for Ebola
A UK military healthcare worker is being monitored for Ebola after suffering a needle injury in Sierra Leone.
The person has been returned to the UK as a precaution as the risk of infection from a needle is high as Ebola is transmitted through bodily fluids. At present, the wprker is showing no symptoms and has not tested positive for the disease, although he or she will remain in isolation for a 21 day period, until the virus’s incubation period has expired.
The patient is currently at Royal Free Hospital in north London, according to Public Health England. The hospital has a specialist unit for infectious diseases, and it was there that UK Ebola sufferers Will Pooley and Pauline Cafferkey were treated. Both recovered.
Professor Paul Cosford, PHE's director for health protection, said:
Our thoughts are with this person, who has been courageous in helping those affected in West Africa, and in preventing the wider spread of Ebola.
We have strict, well-tested protocols in place for this eventuality and we are confident that all appropriate actions have been taken to support the healthcare worker concerned and to protect the health of other people.