France has reported its first confirmed Ebola case detected within its borders, involving a doctor who returned on a commercial flight from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where authorities are grappling with a major outbreak.
It is the first time during the current wave of infections that the deadly haemorrhagic fever has been confirmed outside Africa — an outbreak that has also reached Uganda.
France has never before detected Ebola on national territory. During the large West Africa outbreak in 2014, two Ebola patients were transported to France, but both had been diagnosed abroad.
In a statement, the health ministry said it had identified “a first positive case of Ebola virus disease on national territory”.
The patient, the ministry said, “boarded a commercial flight from Kinshasa and was almost asymptomatic – except for headaches”.
Officials said the patient’s condition “slightly deteriorated during the flight” and that, upon arrival in Paris, the person was immediately isolated and taken into care — even before Ebola was officially identified.
The patient was reported to be in a “stable condition” with a viral load described as “very low”, according to the ministry.
Authorities said efforts were under way to trace and identify potential contacts.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s office said he was monitoring the situation “very closely”, while the health ministry emphasised that the risk of transmission remained low.
ALIMA (The Alliance for International Medical Action), an international medical humanitarian organisation, said the patient was one of its doctors.
US surgeon recovered
The DRC’s 17th Ebola outbreak was declared on 15 May after several unexplained deaths in the mineral-rich but volatile eastern Ituri province, an area long plagued by armed groups.
Latest official figures show more than 1,000 cases, including 267 deaths — a fatality rate of around 25%.
Many experts say the true scale may be larger than reported, noting that the outbreak is hitting remote regions where detection and reporting can be difficult.
The Bundibugyo strain driving the current outbreak has no approved vaccine or treatment.
Ebola vaccines developed between 2018 and 2019 are only effective against the Zaire strain, which has fuelled previous major outbreaks.
In May, a US surgeon who contracted Ebola in the DRC was flown to Germany for treatment.
Earlier this month, a Berlin hospital discharged the missionary, saying he had recovered after 17 days of medical care.
The doctor, identified as Peter Stafford of the Serge charity, received treatment that included “experimental therapies currently being trialed for this type of virus”, the hospital said.
Public health experts say the likelihood of the outbreak spreading globally remains low, citing Ebola’s relatively low contagiousness.
“The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) considers the risk of infection to be low for European residents and travelers going to areas with active transmission, and very low for the general European population,” the French health ministry said.
