This is the first time that the virus has been identified on French territory. On Wednesday June 24, the Ministry of Health confirmed the presence of a case of Ebola in France. A previous report was mentioned in Mayotte in 2019, but it was then denied by the Regional Health Agency (ARS). France now becomes the first country not on the African continent to confirm a case diagnosed on its territory.
Who is the patient?
The patient suffering from the virus is a “humanitarian doctor returning from a mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo”, explains the Ministry of Health. The country has been affected since March by an Ebola epidemic which has so far killed more than 260 people.
The doctor, who works for the NGO Alima (The Alliance for International Medical Action), landed in Paris on Tuesday June 23, aboard a flight from Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). During his humanitarian mission, the caregiver was present in one of “the virus circulation zones”, explains the NGO.
When he boarded, he did not present any symptoms, apart from a few headaches, assures Stéphanie Rist, the Minister of Health.
What was the protocol applied?
During the flight, the doctor’s condition “slightly” deteriorated. Upon his arrival at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, he would have been immediately taken care of in compliance with “health instructions”. Even though the patient has a “very low” viral load, explains the Ministry of Health, he was placed in isolation in “a reference health establishment”, the name of which is unknown.
His hospitalization was carried out according to “strict biological safety protocols (negative pressure room, dedicated equipment and protocols)”, details the ministry. It was also decided to set up “dedicated monitoring for the return of French humanitarian workers to the national territory”.
Air France, the airline that operated the trip, said passengers on the flight would be contacted. For the moment, five people living near the patient have been identified as potential “contact cases”. They were placed in solitary confinement “as a precaution”.
Those who have approached the infected person will have to respect a period of home isolation of twenty-one days. The list of passengers was also sent to the health authorities. The Ministry of Health has opened a “thorough epidemiological investigation to determine the people who may have been in contact with the patient”.
What risks of transmission?
The current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is caused by a rare strain of the Ebola virus, known as Bundibugyo, for which there is no vaccine or treatment. However, specialists consider that the risk of its spread on a global scale remains limited, due to its low level of contagiousness.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) also judged the risk of infection “very low for the general European population”, recalls the Ministry of Health. During a previous major epidemic in West Africa, in the mid-2010s, several cases were diagnosed on American and British soil, without giving rise to any lasting spread.
