A NURSE screened for Ebola who had been combatting the deadly disease outbreak in Sierra Leone has been confirmed as the first Scottish case of the virus.

The woman has been isolated and is receiving treatment in the specialist Brownlee Unit for Infectious Diseases on the Gartnavel Hospital campus in Glasgow.

The NHS Scotland nurse had been working at the British government's flagship Ebola Treatment Centre partly run by the Save The Children charity at Kerry Town just outside Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, for the past two months.

It was the first case of Ebola to be diagnosed within the UK.

The Scottish Government said that as the patient was diagnosed in "very early"stages of illness, risk to others is considered "extremely low".

The woman at the centre of Britain's second confirmed Ebola case returned to Scotland from Sierra Leone late on Sunday night via Casablanca and London Heathrow, arriving into Glasgow Airport on the British Airways BA1478 flight at around 11.30pm. There were 71 passengers on the plane.

It was confirmed the patient was screened for Ebola in Sierra Leone and again at Heathrow, but was taken to hospital early yesterday (mon) morning after feeling unwell and was placed into isolation at 7.50am.

The patient was due to be transferred to the high level isolation unit in the Royal Free Hospital, London, where the facilities, staff and systems are in place to ensure the best quality and safest care.

Doctors there are understood to have plasma packed with Ebola antibodies given by William Pooley, the 29-year-old nurse from Suffolk who was the first British person to contract Ebola and was discharged from hospital after making a full recovery in September. He was kept in a special isolation unit at the Royal Free and given the experimental drug ZMapp.

The Kerry Town facility where the nurse worked opened on November 5 and includes an 80-bed treatment centre managed by Save the Children and a 12 bed centre staffed by British Army medics specifically for health care workers and international staff responding to the Ebola crisis.

She flew back to Glasgow first taking Royal Air Maroc flights AT596 from Freetown to Casablanca before taking the AT0800 on to Heathrow.

At a news conference in Glasgow, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the patient was thought to have had contact with only one other person since arriving in the city, but that all passengers on the flights the woman took will be traced

Ms Sturgeon, who chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government Resilience Committee to ensure all necessary steps are being taken, has spoken to Prime Minister David Cameron who said the UK government stood ready to assist "in any way possible".

Ms Sturgeon said: "Our first thoughts at this time must be with the patient diagnosed with Ebola and their friends and family. I wish them a speedy recovery.

"Scotland has been preparing for this possibility from the beginning of the outbreak in West Africa and I am confident that we are well prepared.

"We have the robust procedures in place to identify cases rapidly. Our health service also has the expertise and facilities to ensure that confirmed Ebola cases such as this are contained and isolated effectively minimising any potential spread of the disease.

"Scotland's NHS has proved it is well able to cope with infectious diseases in the past, such as swine flu, and I am confident we will be able to respond effectively again."

Alisdair MacConachie, of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said the woman was "quite stable and not showing any great clinical concern at the minute" and that being in an early stage of infection that "should translate into a good prognosis".

A Scottish Government spokesman said that "all possible contacts" with the patient were being investigated and anyone deemed to be at risk "will be contacted and closely monitored".

Public Health England said it was arrange for passengers and crew on the flight from Casablanca to Heathrow to be provided with health information and will be contacting and following up those passengers who were sitting near the affected passenger on these flights.

A spokesman for the Royal Free Hospital said: "The Royal Free London can confirm that it is expecting to receive a patient who has tested positive for Ebola. The patient will be treated in the high level isolation unit."

The Royal Free unit is run by a dedicated team of doctors and laboratory staff and access is restricted to specially trained medical staff.

A specially designed tent is set up around the patient's bed so the infection can be contained while they are treated.

England's chief medical officer Professor Dame Sally Davies said: "Our thoughts are with this individual who, along with other NHS and public health colleagues, are doing a fantastic job saving lives.

"The English and Scottish governments and health authorities are working together to make sure that this individual receives the best possible care."

While public health experts stressed the risks are "negligible", a telephone helpline (08000 858531) was set up for anyone who was on the Heathrow to Glasgow flight last night.

Michael von Bertele, Save the Children Humanitarian Director, wished her a speedy recovery. He said: "Our thoughts are with the individual, their family and colleagues at this difficult time."

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson MSP said: "We all hope this will be an isolated case and everyone's thoughts right now will be with the patient and the medical team at Gartnavel."

A British Airways spokesman said: "We are working closely with the health authorities in England and Scotland and will offer assistance with any information they require."

The World Health Organization said on Monday the number of people infected by Ebola in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - the worst affected by the outbreak - has passed 20,000, with more than 7,842 deaths in the epidemic so far.