MOSCOW, November 23 (Sputnik) — A United Nations health worker was discharged from a French hospital on Sunday after recovering from Ebola, the French Health Ministry said in a statement, reports Reuters.
The person, whose nationality and gender were not disclosed, "left hospital this morning and has left France," added the French Ministry.
The official is the second person to recover in France after a French nurse, who worked for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Liberia, was successfully treated at the same military hospital in September, reports AFP.
The UN worker, whose name and nationality have not been disclosed, had been flown to France from Sierra Leone and was kept in isolation at the Begin military hospital in the eastern Paris suburb of Saint-Mandé.
The death toll of the Ebola epidemic has reached 5,459 out of 15,351 cases identified in eight countries, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
Ebola viruses are found in several African countries. Ebola was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since then, outbreaks of Ebola among humans have appeared sporadically in Africa, according to the Center for Disease Control.
Healthcare providers caring for Ebola patients and family and friends in close contact with Ebola patients are at the highest risk of infection because they may come in contact with the blood or body fluids of sick patients. People can also contract Ebola after coming in contact with infected wildlife.
Symptoms of Ebola include fever, severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, fatigue, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain and hemorrhaging. Symptoms may appear anywhere from two to 21 days after exposure to Ebola, but the average is eight to ten days. Recovery from Ebola depends on the extent of clinical treatment provided and the patient’s immune response. People who recover from Ebola infection develop antibodies that last for at least ten years, as reported in CDC.
Two days ago, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon held a press conference on the UN System’s response to the Ebola crisis where he stated, “We need more international responders – trained medical teams and volunteer health workers – especially in remote districts,” as reported by United Nations News Centre.
Mr. Ban noted “some welcome progress,” adding, “We are seeing the curve bending in enough places to give us hope.”
He also said “if we continue to accelerate our response, we can contain and end the outbreak by the middle of next year.”
"I appeal to the international community to stay engaged," he pleaded. "The United Nations system will continue to scale up our response until the very last case of Ebola is identified and treated.”
