A healthcare worker in Glasgow, Scotland has been diagnosed with Ebola. The patient recently returned from West Africa, after treating people afflicted with the often-fatal disease. The unidentified woman is currently being treated at Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow, where she is being held in isolation.
Authorities in the United Kingdom are investigating any possible contacts she may have had during her journey home from Sierra Leone to Scotland. This will include tracing all passengers on flights on which she traveled during her trip, which included a stop at Heathrow airport.
"Apart from other passengers on the flights and obviously the hospital staff since this patient's admittance to hospital, she, the patient is thought to have had contact with only one other person in Scotland since returning to Scotland last night and that person will also be contacted and given appropriate reassurance," First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told reporters.
The patient is reported to be in stable condition, not showing any signs of significant health problems, according to the National Health Service (NHS) Glasgow.
The stricken woman flew from Sierra Leone to Casablanca, then onto London, before landing in Glasgow. She began to feel ill, and was admitted to the hospital less than nine hours later. Because her diagnosis was made, and treatments started, so soon after symptoms started, prognosis for the woman is good, and the risk of infection by others is greatly reduced. Ebola cannot be transmitted from one person to another until symptoms appear, according to the National Health Service.
"We have the robust procedures in place to identify cases rapidly. Our health service also has the expertise and facilities to ensure that confirmed Ebola cases such as this are contained and isolated effectively minimising any potential spread of the disease," Sturgeon said.
Policies put in place by government officials in the United Kingdom state that patients with Ebola are to be transferred to Royal Free Hospital in London. There, special equipment is available to help treat patients suffering from the disease.
Ebola outbreaks have occurred in the nations of western Africa in years past. This year's epidemic is the most severe seen so far, although it has remained a serious issue in just three countries, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. Over 17,000 people have been diagnosed with the disease in those countries, and more than 6,000 have perished.
Scotland has successfully dealt with other serious contagious diseases in the past, including swine flu. The government in that nation of 5.3 million people has been preparing for their first case of Ebola, and procedures are in place to prevent additional infections.
