Suspected Ebola patient to be flown to UK with aid of Luxembourg gov't

A British patient, who began showing symptoms of the Ebola virus while working as a health care worker in Sierra Leone, is going to be transported back to Britain, a statement from the Luxembourg government said on Thursday.

The airlift was organized by the Luxembourg government and the plane has medical evacuation equipment specific to the care of Ebola patients.

The aircraft left Luxembourg for Sierra Leone on March 11 at around 9 p.m. (2000 GMT) and is scheduled to land in Britain on March 13 at around 4 a.m. local time (0400 GMT).

In total, three suspected Ebola cases of British citizens in Sierra Leone have been identified in the past week, but so far none have tested positive for the deadly virus.

Following a request by the British authorities, the Luxembourg authorities responded after obtaining an analysis of the patient's medical data through with the World Health Organisation (WHO).

"We pay tribute to the tremendous courage of the health care workers who are risking their lives every day in the fight against Ebola," said Christos Stylianides, the EU's Ebola co-ordinator and commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management.

"The EU has worked hard to help end this epidemic. With funding, but also by supporting member states in deploying equipment and personnel, and by putting a system in place for medical evacuations at the service of all international health workers. We must not let down our guard until we get to zero cases." Endit