Scottish healthcare worker diagnosed with Ebola

A female healthcare worker who returned from Sierra Leone is the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola while in the UK.

The Scottish government says the patient flew to Glasgow via Casablanca and London's Heathrow Airport, arriving late Sunday.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government Resilience Committee and has also spoken to Prime Minister David Cameron.

She said: "Our first thoughts at this time must be with the patient diagnosed with Ebola and their friends and family. I wish them a speedy recovery.

"Scotland has been preparing for this possibility from the beginning of the outbreak in West Africa and I am confident that we are well prepared."

"All people on the flight will be traced and contacted," said Sturgeon, which she stressed was "a precautionary measure."

The healthcare worker did not have any symptoms but was admitted to hospital on Monday morning after feeling unwell and was placed into isolation at 7.50am. "She is clinically stable," a doctor said at a press conference.

The individual has been isolated and is receiving treatment in the specialist Brownlee Unit for Infectious Diseases on the Gartnavel Hospital campus, but will be taken to the Royal Free Hospital in London soon.

Details about the individual who has contracted the disease were scant, although Sturgeon said the victim was "dealing on the front line".

According to BBC News, several sources state that the healthcare worker is an employee of the National Health Service and worked for the charity Save the Children.

Exactly how the ebola virus is spread is still a matter of concern for the general public.

"It is not airborne, but mainly transmitted coming into contact with body fluid," explained Dr Ahmed at a press conference.

"The risk to other people is deemed to be extremely low," added Sturgeon.

The only previous case of the often-fatal disease in Britain was William Pooley, a nurse who contracted the disease while patients in Sierra Leone. He recovered after treatment in London and returned to West Africa.

Anyone who was on the Heathrow to Glasgow flight on Sunday night is asked to call 08000 858531.