For the first time, a case of Ebola has been diagnosed in France, in a doctor returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is currently experiencing a major epidemic. However, health authorities are reassuring the public: the patient was isolated upon his return and has only a low viral load.
The French Ministry of Health announced on June 24th the identification of the first positive case of Ebola virus disease on national territory" . " The patient, who had returned from one of the areas in the DRC where the virus is circulating, was immediately taken to a specialized facility and is in stable condition.", according to its statement.
This doctor, who works for the humanitarian NGO Alima, is " arrived in Paris "On Tuesday, he arrived from Kinshasa," the ministry specified. He had boarded the plane without symptoms, apart from headaches, but his condition worsened. slightly "Deteriorated during the journey, according to the source, who assures that he" He fully complied with health guidelines, was isolated according to procedures upon arrival at the airport, and then transported to the hospital to be isolated in a double-flow room." . " Its viral load is very low", according to the ministry.
The people who have been in contact with this patient are " identification in progress", with a possible outcome" home isolation " of three weeks under " careful monitoring"This is the first time a case of Ebola has been diagnosed on French territory, a situation that the head of the French government, Sébastien Lecornu, said he was following closely." very close“.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is currently experiencing a major outbreak of this disease, which manifests as a hemorrhagic fever that is very often fatal. According to the latest official figures, 1,048 cases have been recorded, including 267 deaths, representing a case fatality rate of approximately 251 per 100,000 inhabitants. However, many experts believe the true extent is likely underestimated, as the epidemic is affecting very remote areas. The outbreak, which is also affecting Uganda to a lesser extent, involves a rare strain of the virus, known as Bundibugyo, against which there is no vaccine or specific treatment.
In the context of this epidemic, France is the first country outside of Africa to confirm a diagnosed case on its territory. Previous suspected cases in Brazil and Italy were ultimately ruled out or not confirmed.
Read alsoEbola in the DRC: more than 1,000 cases and 254 deaths, according to the latest official figures
Accelerated transmission in the DRC
During a previous major outbreak that struck West Africa in the mid-2010s, two cases were present in France, but only after being diagnosed abroad. In contrast, several cases were diagnosed in the United States and the United Kingdom, in patients returning from the affected countries. These precedents remain reassuring, however, as they did not lead to any sustained spread.
Public health experts believe that the risk of transmission of the epidemic remains low worldwide, due to the relatively low contagiousness of the Ebola virus. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has assessed the risk of infection as low for European residents and travellers going to areas of active circulation, and very low for the general European population", the Ministry of Health reminds us.
For its part, the NGO Alima said it was seeking to " to understand how the contamination could have occurred while aid workers are normally required to quarantine for three weeks after coming into contact with infected cases. Contamination prevention measures have been in place since the beginning of our intervention to protect our teams"Alima said in a statement.
On the ground, the current Ebola outbreak, the 17th to strike the DRC, is considered particularly worrying, given the numerous factors hindering the fight against this outbreak. The World Health Organization (WHO), which declared it a public health emergency, indicated in mid-June that the transmission of the epidemic was accelerating in the DRC despite strengthened health response measures. The lack of a vaccine, the presence of numerous war zones, and the initial slowness of health authorities in identifying the virus are all factors that make the epidemic particularly difficult to control.
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