British doctor who tested positive for Ebola in Congo is evacuated to
London hospital
[November 07, 2026]
LONDON (AP) — A British doctor who was working on the Ebola
epidemic in Congo was evacuated Thursday to a London hospital for
treatment for the virus, the U.K. government said.
The man is the first British patient evacuated from the current outbreak
of the deadly virus, and the third person to have tested positive to
return to Europe.
The doctor was flown to the U.K. on a medical evacuation arranged by the
governments of Britain and Congo, and their international health
partners.
He was taken to the Royal Free Hospital in London, which has a high
level isolation unit that was used to treat patients from an Ebola
outbreak in West Africa between 2014 and 2015.
Dr. Renu Bindra, of the U.K. Health Security Agency, said robust
infection prevention and control protocols are in place and the risk to
the public is low.
France confirmed a case in June in a doctor — since recovered — who had
returned from a humanitarian mission in Congo. A Swiss woman believed to
have contracted the virus in Uganda was medically evacuated to Geneva
for treatment last month and her husband, a diplomat, was held in
isolation in Zurich.
The disease spreading in some of Congo’s remotest provinces has infected
10,600 people, more than 5,100 of whom have died. It’s spread to 67
health zones across eight provinces, from three zones when it was first
declared in May.
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A patient is being transferred in a isolation unit from a rescue
aircraft to a rescue helicopter of Swiss Air Rescue at Zurich
Airport on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, in Zurich, Switzerland. (Michael
Buholzer/Keystone via AP)
 “The infection of a British
healthcare worker with Ebola is deeply concerning, but it is not
entirely unexpected,” said Dr. Damien Tully, an infectious disease
expert at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
“Healthcare workers are on the front line of these outbreaks, often
treating severely ill patients under extremely challenging
conditions. Even with rigorous protective measures, accidental
exposures can occur.”
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