THE first person to fall ill with deadly Congo Fever in the UK has been flown from Glasgow to a high-security infectious disease unit in London.
The 38-year-old arrived in Scotland on Tuesday night aboard Emirates flight EK027 from Dubai.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board said a fourth passenger who was on the Emirates flight, which touched down in Glasgow, had been identified as a possible contact of the patient with Crimean Congo Viral Haemorrhagic Fever (CCVHF).
He or she will now be followed up as a precaution on a daily basis, to monitor for any develpments of relative symptoms.
It came as the patient who was being treated for the disease flew south onboard an RAF plane fitted with isolation facilities.
Prior to travelling to Dubai, he had been in Afghanistan.
The man was stabilised on arrival and was transferred on Thursday night by air with the support of the Scottish Ambulance Service.
He is now receiving treatment at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust hospital, after leaving Glasgow's specialist Brownlie unit.
A spokeswoman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said the move was in line with the UK-wide protocol for the management of diseases of the "severity and rarity" of CCVHF.
Doctors said the risk to other passengers who travelled on the same plane from Dubai was low, but a helpline has been set up for anyone else who was travelling on the flight and is concerned for their safety.
CCVHF, a swift-acting disease that can prove fatal, is found in animals and can jump the species barrier and infect humans. It is usually contracted by those who have come into contact with body fluids from infected animals or people. Disease onset is sudden, with symptoms including high fever, joint pain, stomach pain and vomiting.
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