France has reported its first case of Ebola — a doctor who returned from a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo has tested positive for the virus. The patient was immediately admitted to a specialist facility and is in a stable condition, the French health ministry said on Wednesday.
The doctor was working in one of the affected areas of DR Congo, where the current outbreak has become one of the largest on record. More than 260 people have died and over 1,000 have been infected, according to the World Health Organization. The strain responsible is the Bundibugyo virus, a rare form of Ebola for which no vaccine or approved treatment exists.
“France confirms its first Ebola case: a doctor returning from DR Congo, where the outbreak has killed over 260.”
It is the first case of Ebola confirmed in Europe since the outbreak began. Last month, two American doctors infected in DR Congo were treated at a German hospital, and neighbouring Uganda has also reported cases.
Healthcare workers are especially vulnerable. The WHO said last week that 17 of the 75 health workers who caught Ebola in DR Congo had died. In the worst-affected province of Ituri, only one in five health centres has access to enough clean water, according to Oxfam. The charity warned that contact tracing coverage stands at just 43%, and that the true toll is likely far higher.
Conflict in eastern DR Congo is complicating containment efforts. The M23 rebel group controls large parts of North and South Kivu, while 70 health facilities have been destroyed by years of violence. In North Kivu, some Ebola cases are identified only after the patient has died.
France has set up a dedicated monitoring system for aid workers returning from DR Congo. The health ministry stressed the risk to the French population remains “very low”, and WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there was “no need to panic”. Efforts are under way to trace anyone who may have had contact with the doctor.
But both the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and Africa CDC have warned the outbreak has the potential to become one of the largest ever. With no vaccine yet available — four experimental candidates are in development but clinical trials have not started — the race to contain the virus continues.