The Scottish nurse who contracted Ebola while volunteering in west Africa has arrived in London for specialist treatment after being transferred by military-style aircraft from hospital in Glasgow.
The patient, who has not yet been named but is in a stable condition, was taken on board the aircraft within a specialist quarantine tent from Glasgow airport on Tuesday morning, surrounded by medical staff in protection suits. She was then transferred to an RAF truck, which took her to the Royal Free hospital in Hampstead, north London, accompanied by police cars.
Thought to be a nurse with NHS Lanarkshire, she was taken into the UK’s high-level isolation unit at the Royal Free – the unit which successfully treated British nurse William Pooley, who contracted Ebola last August.
The hospital said: “The Royal Free hospital can confirm that it is expecting to receive a patient who has tested positive for Ebola. The patient will be treated in the high-level isolation unit (HLIU).”
The nurse was admitted to one of Scotland’s main infectious diseases units at Gartnavel hospital in Glasgow on Monday morning after falling unwell only a few hours after returning from two months volunteering at a Save the Children Ebola treatment unit in Sierra Leone.
Health experts treating the nurse, the first case of Ebola to be diagnosed on UK soil, said she was “quite stable” and showing few signs causing clinical concern, raising hopes she would survive the disease.
Dr Alisdair MacConnachie, a consultant in infectious diseases for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, who had been treating the patient, said she had had no contact with other parts of the NHS or any accident and emergency facility.
“She [is] quite stable and not showing any great clinical concern at the minute,” he said.
Asked about the patient’s prospects, he said that being clinically stable at this stage “should translate into a good prognosis”.
Meanwhile, two more people who have been in west Africa are being tested for Ebola, one in Scotland and one in Cornwall.
The Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said the Scottish patient was another healthcare worker who had recently returned from the region.
The Cornish patient has been placed in isolation at the Royal Cornwall hospital in Treliske, Truro.
It is understood the patient, who attended the hospital on Tuesday morning, recently returned from a country affected by an outbreak of the virus.
In a joint statement, the hospital and Public Health England said: “A patient has been admitted to Royal Cornwall hospital and is currently undergoing a series of tests – one of which is for Ebola.
“We do not expect the results to be known for at least 24 hours and in the meantime the patient is being looked after in isolation, following nationally agreed guidelines and protocols to protect the health of our staff and other patients.
“Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust has been following national guidance around Ebola and made plans in line with advice from Public Health England and NHS England.”
