British Ebola Nurse 'Critical' In Hospital

A British nurse diagnosed with Ebola after volunteering in Sierra Leone is now in a critical condition in hospital. Pauline Cafferkey was diagnosed with the deadly virus on her return to Glasgow from the West African country.

She was transferred to Royal Free Hospital in north London. Today, the specialist hospital said the nurses condition had deteriorated and she is now fighting for her life.

All UK-based passengers and crew from two flights taken by British Ebola victim Pauline Cafferkey as she returned to Scotland from Sierra Leone, have now been contacted by medical authorities.

Ms Cafferkey, a nurse who had been volunteering in the West African nation, took flights to Heathrow and Glasgow Airports on her way home.

She was initially treated in Glasgow before being moved to the Royal Free Hospital in North London for specialist treatment.

Ms Cafferkey was diagnosed with the deadly virus after returning to Glasgow from Heathrow, after flying to the UK from Sierra Leone via Casablanca in Morocco.

Public Health England (PHE) said passengers and crew members on the flights to Heathrow and Glasgow on Sunday have now been contacted.

Speaking about the British Airways flight from Heathrow to Glasgow, a PHE spokeswoman said: "All 71 passengers and all crew members on this flight have been contacted as of 1st January 2015, given advice and reassurance by officials from Health Protection Scotland."

Of the Royal Air Maroc flight from Casablanca to Heathrow, she said: "All 101 UK-based passengers and all crew members on this flight have been contacted, given advice and reassurance by officials from Public Health England as of 2nd January 2015.

"The additional 31 international passengers on this flight are being contacted by international public health authorities."

The Moroccan Ministry of Health has also been tracing passengers aboard the Royal Air Maroc flight from Freetown in Sierra Leone to Casablanca as a precautionary measure.

All passengers on that flight were screened before they left Freetown and cleared to travel, as well as on their arrival in Casablanca, PHE said.

Ms Cafferkey, who works at Blantyre Health Centre in South Lanarkshire, faces a "critical" few days as she is treated with an experimental anti-viral drug and blood from a survivor of the virus, her doctor has said.

Dr Michael Jacobs said she is being treated via a quarantine tent at the Royal Free Hospital with convalescent plasma taken from the blood of a recovered patient and an experimental anti-viral drug which is "not proven to work".
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