Ebola detected in France after doctor tests positive following aid mission

A French doctor who was working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has tested positive for Ebola after returning home.

A French doctor who was working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has tested positive for Ebola after returning home.

France’s health ministry said the patient had been on a humanitarian mission and is currently isolating.

Those who may have come into contact with the patient are being traced, and the general risk the outbreak presents in Europe remains low.

Last week, it was revealed that the ‘first line of defence’ against the deadly strain of Ebola has collapsed.

The DRC is facing its largest ever outbreak of the virus, with nearly 781 infected and 267 dead.

But Oxfam has warned that the true toll is likely far higher, as the country’s contact tracing programme and water infrastructure are at breaking point.

Only one in five health centres in the northeastern province of Ituri, the worst-affected region, has access to enough clean water.

In Mongbwalo, a town of 140,000 people, only two in 10 have access to clean water, and a quarter have access to working hygiene facilities.

North Kivu province is even seeing Ebola cases being identified after the patient has died, unaware they had the illness.

The strain of Ebolavirus behind this outbreak, known as Bundibugyo, is rare and currently has no vaccine or treatment.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed this is the largest Bundibugyo outbreak on record.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a public health emergency last month following the outbreak.