UN Ebola victim 'stable' in French hospital
A United Nations employee who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone and was repatriated in France is in a "stable condition," French Health Minister Marisol Touraine said on Monday.
The Unicef official was "repatriated in secure sanitary conditions" and is being treated at the Begin military hospital outside Paris, Touraine told French radio, declining to give specific details about the patient.
"It's a person who is at the moment in a stable condition and who will receive the best possible treatment," she said.
"If the medical team deems it useful to administer experimental drugs - as was the case for the young Doctors Without Borders nurse - that will be possible," added the minister.
A French nurse, who worked for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Liberia, was treated for Ebola at the same hospital in September and recovered.
The health ministry stressed on Sunday that this was the only confirmed case of Ebola on French territory.
Despite around 500 reports of possible Ebola infections in France since June, not one has so far tested positive, authorities have said.
The epidemic, which has hit Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone hardest, has killed more than 4,900 people.
Last month, France stepped up controls on people arriving from Ebola-hit countries by introducing temperate checks on boat travellers.
France is also carrying out health checks on people arriving by plane from the worst-hit areas.
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The Unicef official was "repatriated in secure sanitary conditions" and is being treated at the Begin military hospital outside Paris, Touraine told French radio, declining to give specific details about the patient.
"It's a person who is at the moment in a stable condition and who will receive the best possible treatment," she said.
"If the medical team deems it useful to administer experimental drugs - as was the case for the young Doctors Without Borders nurse - that will be possible," added the minister.
A French nurse, who worked for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Liberia, was treated for Ebola at the same hospital in September and recovered.
The health ministry stressed on Sunday that this was the only confirmed case of Ebola on French territory.
Despite around 500 reports of possible Ebola infections in France since June, not one has so far tested positive, authorities have said.
The epidemic, which has hit Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone hardest, has killed more than 4,900 people.
Last month, France stepped up controls on people arriving from Ebola-hit countries by introducing temperate checks on boat travellers.
France is also carrying out health checks on people arriving by plane from the worst-hit areas.
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