TIME ebola

British Military Health Worker Has Ebola

SLEONE-EBOLA-HEALTH
Francisco Leong—AFP/Getty Images The Kerry Town Ebola treatment center on the outskirts of Freetown, Sierra Leone in 2014.

The worker tested positive while stationed in Sierra Leone

A United Kingdom military health worker stationed in Sierra Leone has Ebola, the BBC reports.

The Minister of Defence confirmed the news, and said officials are investigating how the worker got the virus.

“The UK has robust, well-developed and well-tested systems for managing Ebola and the overall risk to the public in the UK continues to be very low,” Public Health England, a branch of the UK’s Department of Health, said in a statement, according to the BBC.

MORE: TIME Person of the Year: Ebola Fighters

It is unclear whether the worker will return to England for treatment.

So far, 24,247 people have been infected with Ebola in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, and 9,961 people died. Sierra Leone has had the greatest number of Ebola infections at 11,619.

[BBC]

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