News / Health
First UK case of Ebola confirmed in Glasgow
29 Dec 2014 at 19:34hrs | Views
A healthcare worker who has just returned from West Africa has been diagnosed with Ebola and is being treated in hospital in Glasgow.
The woman, who arrived from Sierra Leone on Sunday night, is in isolation at Glasgow's Gartnavel Hospital.
All possible contacts with the case are being investigated, including on flights to Scotland via Heathrow.
The woman will be transferred to specialist high level isolation in London as soon as possible.
At a news conference in Glasgow, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stressed that the risk to the general public was very low.
She added that the patient was thought to have had contact with only one other person since arriving in the city, but that all passengers on the flights the woman took will be traced.
Ms Sturgeon said: "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."
Alisdair MacConachie, of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: "She's being managed in an isolation facility by staff who are comfortable managing patients in such a situation. She herself is quite stable and is not showing any great clinical concern at the minute."
NHS Scotland said infectious diseases procedures had been put into effect at the Brownlee Unit for Infectious Diseases at Gartnavel.
The patient returned to Scotland from Sierra Leone late on Sunday via Casablanca and London Heathrow, arriving into Glasgow Airport on a British Airways flight at about 23:30.
While public health experts have emphasised that the risks are negligible, a telephone helpline has been set up for anyone who was on the BA 1478 Heathrow to Glasgow flight. The number is: 08000 858531
The woman had been admitted to hospital early on Monday morning after feeling unwell and was placed into isolation at 07.50.
The early symptoms are a sudden fever, muscle pain, fatigue, headache and sore throat.
This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, a rash and bleeding - both internal and external - which can be seen in the gums, eyes, nose and in the stools.
Patients tend to die from dehydration and multiple organ failure.
The woman, who arrived from Sierra Leone on Sunday night, is in isolation at Glasgow's Gartnavel Hospital.
All possible contacts with the case are being investigated, including on flights to Scotland via Heathrow.
The woman will be transferred to specialist high level isolation in London as soon as possible.
At a news conference in Glasgow, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stressed that the risk to the general public was very low.
She added that the patient was thought to have had contact with only one other person since arriving in the city, but that all passengers on the flights the woman took will be traced.
Ms Sturgeon said: "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."
NHS Scotland said infectious diseases procedures had been put into effect at the Brownlee Unit for Infectious Diseases at Gartnavel.
The patient returned to Scotland from Sierra Leone late on Sunday via Casablanca and London Heathrow, arriving into Glasgow Airport on a British Airways flight at about 23:30.
While public health experts have emphasised that the risks are negligible, a telephone helpline has been set up for anyone who was on the BA 1478 Heathrow to Glasgow flight. The number is: 08000 858531
The woman had been admitted to hospital early on Monday morning after feeling unwell and was placed into isolation at 07.50.
The early symptoms are a sudden fever, muscle pain, fatigue, headache and sore throat.
This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, a rash and bleeding - both internal and external - which can be seen in the gums, eyes, nose and in the stools.
Patients tend to die from dehydration and multiple organ failure.
Source - BBC
