The Ministry of Health wants to be reassuring: there is no other case of Ebola on the territory. The government wanted to allay any concerns after treating a patient with Ebola virus on French soil. The patient is a UN employee who was on mission in Sierra Leone, one of the countries most affected by the virus with 1,510 deaths and 5,338 declared cases.
The person was placed in isolation in a dedicated room at the Bégin army instruction hospital in Saint-Mandé, in Val-de-Marne. She is currently receiving “attentive” medical care, the health ministry said in a statement. Asked about France Inter, Marisol Touraine, the Minister of Health clarified that the patient was “for the moment in a stable and [allait] to be cared for in the best possible conditions”.
Secure support
The patient was treated in the compliance with protocolput in place to prevent any risk of contamination. “The person was medically evacuated and secured by special aircraft. The entire care circuit was secured, from take-off from Freetown and the plane trip to his hospitalization”, says the ministry.
By agreeing to treat a patient on its soil, the government is participating in international efforts to help African countries and fight the Ebola epidemic. France “keeps its international commitments to medical care of humanitarian personnel mobilized” by NGOs and UN agencies, further recalls the office of the Minister of Health.
In France, less than 500 “reports” for Ebola have been listed since June according to the ministry. 18 cases were classified as “possible”, but after analysis, none were found to be positive.
