UK 'not facing epidemic' as Ebola-infected man returns

A British man infected with Ebola in DR Congo to be flown back to UK.

Dr Simon Clarke, Associate Professor in Cellular Microbiology & Public Engagement in Science at the University of Reading, explains why the return of the man does not pose a threat to UK public health.

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Dr Simon Clarke said: "It is understandable that news of an Ebola patient being brought back to the UK will worry people. But a patient arriving here and the virus spreading through the population are not the same thing. The priority is to get this man the care he needs while protecting the people looking after him.

“This is a planned medical evacuation. That gives the transport and hospital teams time to prepare, with specialist isolation, protective equipment and strict precautions in place. It is very different from someone arriving in the country with an infection that has not yet been diagnosed. No operation is risk-free, but planning means those risks can be managed.

“The UK has specialist facilities and teams trained to care for patients with High Consequence Infections Diseases (HCIDs) like Ebola. We have seen this before, where healthcare workers were treated here during the West African epidemic without passing the virus on to others in the UK. The Government says established procedures have been activated and the risk to the public remains low.

“None of this makes Ebola any less serious for the patient, or for the communities in Africa facing the outbreak. But caring for someone who caught Ebola overseas does not mean Britain is facing an epidemic. We can take the illness seriously without treating this planned return as a threat to everyone in the country.”