A British resident is being monitored and assessed by specialists at a London hospital after being exposed to Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UK Health Security Agency said.
The individual had been working in the African nation for a humanitarian organisation when he was feared to have come into contact with the virus. He was evacuated on a chartered flight as a precautionary measure, the agency stated.
Health officials confirmed that the worker is not currently displaying symptoms and remains well. Richard Pebody, Director of Epidemic and Emerging Infections at the UK Health Security Agency, said: "The risk to the general public remains low."
Pebody added: "This individual has been transferred out of an abundance of caution, and we're pleased they remain well." The incubation period for Ebola ranges from two to 21 days, and the individual will be required to isolate for that time.
According to reports, Britain has not recorded a single case of Ebola since 2015, when three health workers returned from Africa with the disease.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been grappling for weeks with an Ebola outbreak that is spreading substantially faster than previous epidemics. The country's health ministry said the disease has claimed 930 lives so far, with some 2,344 cases reported on Saturday alone.
Rising cases in Congo
Health officials first declared the outbreak in an eastern region of the country on May 15, and it has since become the fastest-growing Ebola epidemic on record. There have reportedly been 20 confirmed cases outside of DR Congo causing two deaths, with one in Uganda and the other in France.
The Democratic Republic's Ministry of Health said on Monday: "Patient care and support capacities are consolidating, with 22 new recoveries recorded in 24 hours."
The scare follows an incident late last month when part of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow was sealed off after a patient presented at its Acute Receiving Unit. The patient had returned to the city after visiting an Ebola-affected country and developed worrying symptoms, but ultimately tested negative.
Bundibugyo virus strain and Oxford trials
The outbreak in Congo is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, an unfamiliar and rare strain first recorded in 2007 in an area of western Uganda. It killed an estimated 30 per cent of infected people during two previous outbreaks in 2007 and 2012, which were limited in size with just over 200 cases and around 66 deaths.
Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of a person who is sick or has died from the disease, or through contact with contaminated surfaces. Patients can carry the virus for up to 21 days before symptoms begin, which is when experts believe they become infectious.
There is currently no vaccine to combat the Bundibugyo strain, but scientists at the University of Oxford are working on a jab. Researchers are assessing how safe their vaccine is and recruiting volunteers for a trial slated to begin within weeks.
Dr Katrina Pollock, chief investigator of the trial, told the BBC: "We're doing phase one (early stage) trials of new vaccines all of the time, precisely to be ready for exactly this kind of outbreak."
