France has confirmed its first Ebola case in the country during the current outbreak, as a doctor returning from a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) tested positive, French health authorities said.
In a statement on Wednesday, the French Health Ministry said the healthcare worker was operating in one of the areas where the virus was circulating.
“The patient is being treated at a leading healthcare facility, following strict biosafety protocols,” the ministry said.
“All precautionary measures, including the patient’s isolation, were implemented upon arrival in France, with transfer to the hospital under secure conditions to prevent any risk of contamination.”
An epidemiological investigation is under way to identify individuals who may have been in contact with the patient. They will be contacted by health authorities to self-isolate for 21 days, the statement added.
There is no need to panic about France’s Ebola case, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday.
He told a news conference that in the past 50 years, fewer than 30 Ebola cases had been detected outside Africa.
“That means the risk to the rest of the world is low; whether it’s France or other countries in Europe, they shouldn’t overreact, that’s what I would like to advise,” Tedros told reporters.
Tedros added that the Ebola outbreak, which emerged in DRC’s northeastern Ituri province in May, is continuing to outpace response efforts.
“Contact-tracing is inadequate, treatment capacity is insufficient, and safe burials remain a major challenge, with the health system under pressure,” he said, calling for stricter measures to contain the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus.
‘A major challenge’
This comes as the head of Africa’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has warned that the current Ebola outbreak in DRC could be the worst ever.
Efforts to extend treatments are ongoing, but challenging due to security risks and the financial demand needed for a full-scale response, Jean Kaseya said.
“We’re in a region where around one million people live in camps, as internally displaced people, and these people don’t have access to even basic services. To access these camps is a major challenge,” he said.
The Ebola outbreak could cost billions of dollars if not addressed “quickly and efficiently”, he added.
Reporting from Bunia in DRC, Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi said that health workers have observed health improvements, despite the ongoing humanitarian and security crisis near the epicentre of the outbreak.
“They [health workers] are seeing more communities coming to treatment centres, they are seeing less deaths, and people are beginning to understand that this is a very difficult situation and they need to get help,” Soi said. “But there are reports of a security crisis here, as some health workers have been threatened, others beaten up, and several infected as well.”
Since May, Ebola has killed 277 people and infected more than a thousand in the DRC. Cases have also been reported in neighbouring Uganda.
On May 17, the WHO declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern”.
Most previous Ebola outbreaks in DRC were caused by a virus called Ebola Zaire, but this outbreak is caused by a different strain called Bundibugyo, for which there are currently no approved vaccines or treatments.
UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, said they are seeking information from vaccine developers and manufacturers on plans to develop a vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain.
The move follows Gavi’s commitment to support faster vaccine access with up to $40m, including funding to help scale up manufacturing and ensure doses are available if tests prove effective.
Source: Aljazeera