France has reported its first Ebola cases in France after a doctor returned from a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. French authorities said the patient was transferred to a specialist facility and was in a stable condition. Contacts are now being traced, and those identified must isolate at home for 21 days.
French health ministry response
The French health ministry said all precautionary measures, including the patient’s isolation, were taken upon his arrival in the country, with transfer to the hospital under secure conditions to prevent any risk of contamination. The ministry also said the risk to the general European public was very low. That message leaves two tracks moving at once: a single imported case under strict isolation, and a wider public-health watch on the people who may have been exposed during travel and after arrival.
The patient’s return links France directly to an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that has already spread beyond one province. The outbreak is centred on Ituri province in north-eastern DRC, and by 21 June it had produced 1,048 confirmed cases, 267 deaths and 112 recoveries. Uganda had recorded 20 cases and two deaths by the same date.
World Health Organization alert
The World Health Organization declared the outbreak on 15 May and a public health emergency of international concern two days later. Abdirahman Mahamud said on Tuesday that the outbreak had the largest number of confirmed cases within the first month of any Ebola outbreak. He also said, “More and more communities are aware of the risk of Ebola and are asking for tools to support and protect themselves.”
The response now depends on whether any of the patient’s contacts develop symptoms during the 21-day isolation period. The current strain is the rare Bundibugyo virus, which has no vaccine or approved treatment, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo is facing its 17th outbreak of Ebola after Ebola was first detected there in 1976.
