Second British health care worker brought home for Ebola monitoring

A second British military health care worker was transported back to London on Monday for monitoring after "likely exposure" to the Ebola virus, Public Health England (PHE) confirmed.

PHE said that the health care worker, who has been admitted to the Royal Free Hospital, was likely exposed to the Ebola virus through a needle-stick injury when treating a person with Ebola in Sierra Leone.

The person hasn't been diagnosed with Ebola and any related symptoms, but will be watched for 21 days, PHE said.

This is the second case of a British military health care worker being transported back to Britain for monitoring this year. The first worker was transferred to the same hospital on Saturday. Their details haven't been released.

"We can confirm that all the appropriate support is being offered to this individual and that strict protocols have been followed to transfer them back to the UK. We would like to emphasize that there is no risk to the general public's health. Our thoughts are with both of the health care workers, and their families, affected at this time," said Paul Cosford, PHE's director for Health Protection and Medical Director.

"This is entirely a precautionary measure and our priority is the well-being of the individual involved. Although we have had two similar incidents within a short space of time both appear to be unrelated," said Mark Francois, Minister for the Armed Forces.

"Our personnel receive the highest standard of training and briefing prior to deployment, including on the use of the specialized personal protective equipment," he added. Endit