United Kingdom Ebola case: tracing of airline passengers completed
On 8 January 2015, the International Health Regulations (IHR) national focal points of Morocco and the United Kingdom informed WHO that they had completed the tracing of passengers on the same flights as the United Kingdom health care worker who was diagnosed with Ebola virus disease (EVD) after returning from Sierra Leone.
No high-risk contacts have been identified in connection with this EVD case. The health care worker displayed no symptoms of Ebola during the journey from Casablanca to London Heathrow or from London Heathrow to Glasgow.
Even though the risk is considered extremely low, as a precaution, Moroccan and United Kingdom authorities identified passengers who were seated close to the health care worker, and they have been advised to monitor their temperature for 21 days following their flight, until 18 January 2015.
The health care worker is being treated at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
Ebola transmission
EVD is transmitted from person to person via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (such as bedding and clothing) contaminated with these fluids.
