"The patient is a health
care worker who was helping to combat the disease in West Africa" and
returned from Sierra Leone late Sunday night, the Scottish health agency
NHS Scotland said.
The patient flew via
Casablanca, Morocco, and London Heathrow Airport, arriving at Glasgow
Airport on a British Airways flight around 11:30 p.m., the statement
said.
"The patient was admitted
to hospital early in the morning after feeling unwell and was placed
into isolation at 7.50 a.m. 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."
Nicola Sturgeon,
Scotland's head of government, led a meeting of the Scottish Government
Resilience Committee "to ensure all necessary steps are being taken,"
and she spoke with British Prime Minister David Cameron, NHS Scotland
said.
Following established
protocol, the patient "will be transferred to the high-level isolation
unit in the Royal Free hospital, London, as soon as possible. This is
where the facilities, staff and systems are in place to ensure the best
quality and safest care."
Access to the unit is
restricted to specially trained medical staff. A specially designed
tent, with controlled ventilation, will be set up over the patient's
bed.
"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," Sturgeon said
in the statement.
"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."
She added, "Scotland's
NHS has proved it is well able to cope with infectious diseases in the
past, such as swine flu, and I am confident we will be able to respond
effectively again."
The patient was working
with Save the Children at an Ebola treatment center in Sierra Leone,
according to Michael von Bertele, humanitarian director at that
organization.
"Our thoughts are with
the individual, their family and colleagues at this difficult time. We
wish them a speedy recovery," he said in a statement.
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/29/health/ebola-scotland/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
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