Two volunteers with potential Ebola exposure flown to Britain
LONDON (Reuters) - Two volunteers with potential exposure to the deadly Ebola virus are being transported to Britain for precautionary monitoring, health officials said on Friday.
The volunteers, who had been working with victims of the vast Ebola epidemic in West Africa, would arrive on Friday for assessment, and then be monitored for the rest of a 21-day incubation period, Public Health England (PHE) said.
"The individuals have not been diagnosed with Ebola, do not currently have any symptoms, and their risk of developing the infection remains low," it said in a statement.
The first volunteer was potentially exposed in Sierra Leone because of damage to personal protective equipment, PHE said, but had no contact with the blood or bodily fluids of any Ebola patient during this time.
It did not say where the second had been working, but said this volunteer was being brought to Britain by their employer, a non-governmental organisation, in a private aircraft.
"The risk to the public posed by these and indeed any of the returning workers is extremely low," said Jenny Harries, PHE's regional director.
A British nurse diagnosed with Ebola last month is being treated in hospital in London, where doctors said on Monday she was no longer in a critical condition.
(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
