France identifies five contacts after doctor tests positive for Ebola

France has identified five people who may have been exposed to Ebola after sharing a flight with a doctor returning from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The patient is in isolation, while the WHO says the global risk remains low.

Paris: France has identified and isolated five people who may have been exposed to Ebola after sharing a flight with a doctor who tested positive for the virus.

French Health Minister Stephanie Rist said on Wednesday (local time) that the doctor had worked in the Democratic Republic of the Congo before returning to France.

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According to the minister, the patient is an “experienced doctor returning from a mission” who did not know he had contracted the virus. “He had no symptoms when he boarded the plane, and he was not contagious (…) As he is a doctor and developed headaches on the plane, he raised the alert” so that he could be taken care of upon arrival in Paris.

The man was placed in isolation at the hospital as soon as his flight landed. He will remain there “for 21 days, the duration of the incubation period,” she added.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control estimates that the risk of infection for people living in Europe is very low.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reported 1,118 confirmed Ebola cases, including 291 deaths, the DRC government said in the latest situation update on the outbreak.

The update, posted on X by the DRC’s Ministry of Communications and Media on Wednesday (local time), showed that 122 people have recovered, while 408 patients are under care. The case fatality rate stood at 26 per cent as of Tuesday.

Epidemiological surveillance remains active, leading to the identification of 138 suspected cases, while the contact follow-up rate stood at 77.1 per cent, according to the update.

As the eastern Ituri province remains the epicentre of the outbreak, the South Kivu province has reported no new transmission since May 26, while surveillance, patient care, and contact tracing efforts continue in affected areas, said the update.

The global risk posed by the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Africa remains low despite rising case numbers in the affected region, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.