France has confirmed its first case of Ebola – a doctor who had returned from a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The doctor was “immediately admitted to a specialised facility” and is in a stable condition, the French health ministry said on Wednesday.
DR Congo announced an Ebola outbreak last month, but experts believe the virus had been circulating for weeks previously.
More than 260 people are confirmed to have died from the virus in the central African country, while 1,000 people have been infected.
This is the first Ebola case to have been confirmed in Europe, although an American doctor who tested positive in DR Congo was treated at a German hospital last month.
DR Congo’s neighbour, Uganda, has also confirmed Ebola cases. The World Health Organization (WHO) says 20 people are known to have been infected there and two deaths have been confirmed.
In its statement on Wednesday, France’s health ministry stressed that the risk to the population was “very low”.
It added that authorities were working to trace people who may have been in contact with the doctor.
Healthcare workers are especially at risk from Ebola, which is spread through bodily fluids.
The current Ebola outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo species of the virus, for which there is currently no vaccine.
France has set up a “dedicated monitoring system” for aid workers returning from DR Congo, the health ministry said.
According to both Africa’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and US public health authorities, the current Ebola outbreak has the potential to be one of the largest ever.
In DR Congo, cases are currently concentrated in the eastern provinces of Ituri, South Kivu and North Kivu.
Ituri remains the main centre of transmission, accounting for more than 90% of confirmed infections.
The WHO has warned that conflict in eastern DR Congo is making it more difficult to tackle the Ebola outbreak. The M23 rebel group is in control of large parts of both North and South Kivu.
