An illustration of the ebola virus. (RoyaltyStockPhoto/Science Photo Library/Getty Images)
France on Wednesday announced the first confirmed case of Ebola identified on its territory, a doctor who had flown back from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is fighting a major outbreak.The case is the first of the deadly haemorrhagic fever identified outside the African continent during the current outbreak, which has also affected Uganda.It is the first time France has detected Ebola. In 2014, during an outbreak in west Africa, two patients were transported to France, but they had been diagnosed abroad.The health ministry said it had identified "a first positive case of Ebola virus disease on national territory".The patient, who arrived in Paris on Tuesday, "boarded a commercial flight from Kinshasa and was almost asymptomatic – except for headaches", the ministry said.Air France flightThe doctor's condition "slightly deteriorated during the flight", after which the patient was immediately isolated and taken into care upon landing in Paris, even before the disease was officially identified, the ministry added.The patient was in a "stable condition" with a "very low" viral load, the ministry added.
