France on Wednesday announced its first confirmed case of Ebola identified on its territory, a doctor who had returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The health ministry said the patient has a "very low" viral load and that contacts are "currently being identified".
A positive case of Ebola virus has been identified in France in a doctor returning from a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the French Ministry of Health said Wednesday.
The patient had travelled on an Air France flight, and the airline provided the passenger list to health authorities, the company said.
The case is the first of the deadly haemorrhagic fever identified outside the African continent during the current outbreak, which has also affected Uganda.
Watch moreEbola: Health workers in DR Congo fear for their lives
It's also the first time Ebola has been detected in France.
In 2014, during a major outbreak in West Africa, two patients were transported to France, but they had been diagnosed abroad.
The health ministry "confirms today the identification of a first positive case of Ebola virus disease on national territory", said a statement.
Contacted by AFP, the ministry specified that the case had been identified in mainland France.
The doctor was isolated on arrival in France, even before the disease was officially identified, the ministry added.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is monitoring the situation "very closely", his office said.
Read moreDR Congo's deadly Ebola outbreak is 'evolving fast', WHO warns
The DRC's 17th Ebola outbreak was declared on May 15 after several unexplained deaths in the mineral-rich but volatile eastern Ituri province.
The Bundibugyo strain of the virus that has caused the outbreak currently has no approved vaccine or treatment.
Public health experts estimate that the risk of the outbreak spreading worldwide remains low, due to the relatively low contagiousness of the Ebola virus.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, Reuters)
