British health care worker tests positive for Ebola

A health care worker who returned to the U.K. from West Africa is being treated for Ebola in Glasgow, Scotland, after testing positive for the virus.

NPR's Michaeleen Doucleff tells our Newscast unit this is the first Ebola case diagnosed in the U.K. Doucleff reports:

"The patient started to feel sick Monday morning, immediately went to the hospital and was isolated. The patient will be transferred to a high-level treatment unit in London as soon as possible. Meanwhile health officials are tracking down all people who may have come into contact with the patient."

The patient, who had worked in an Ebola clinic in Sierra Leone, arrived in Glasgow late Sunday via London's Heathrow airport and Casablanca, Morocco. Health officials say the risk to others is low as Ebola isn't contagious until a person shows symptoms. And in this case, the disease was caught early.

The World Health Organization, in its latest numbers on the disease, says more than 20,000 people have been diagnosed with Ebola; 7,842 have died. Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.