Overview
- The patient is a humanitarian doctor who returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo and flew on Air France AF736 from Kinshasa to Paris on June 23 before symptoms appeared during the flight.
- French health authorities say the patient was immediately isolated on arrival and is stable with a very low viral load while being treated in a specialized reference hospital.
- Five people who were on the same Kinshasa–Paris flight have been identified as possible contacts and placed under 21-day isolation as public-health teams complete an in-depth contact-tracing investigation.
- Air France temporarily suspended Paris–Kinshasa services and the airport medical emergency service (SAMU) and reference-hospital protocols were used to limit any further risk.
- The imported case comes as the DRC outbreak driven by the Bundibugyo strain expands with over 1,100 reported cases and 304 deaths and as WHO prepares to start clinical trials for candidate treatments and vaccines.