LONDON/FREETOWN - A British national living in Sierra Leone has tested positive for Ebola, the first Briton to fall victim to the deadly disease that has spread across West Africa, the Department of Health said. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the current Ebola epidemic - the world's worst ever with 1,427 documented deaths - will likely take six to nine months to halt.
Britain's Deputy Chief Medical Officer John Watson confirmed a British national was among those suffering from Ebola and said medical experts were assessing the situation in Sierra Leone to ensure appropriate care was provided. "The overall risk to the public in the U.K. continues to be very low," Watson said. No further details about the British national were immediately available, and it was not known whether there were plans to evacuate the patient. Two American aid workers, who contracted Ebola in neighboring Liberia and were then evacuated, recovered from the disease and were released from a hospital in the U.S. earlier this week.
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