Nurse who contacted ebola in Sierra Leone

A NURSE who contracted ebola is in a serious condition in isolation in a hospital with the virus 10 days after a meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron’s wife Samantha.

Pauline Cafferkey, 39, who voluntarily went to the west African country Sierra Leone to treat ebola patients for the Save the Children International charity, became the first Briton to be diagnosed with ebola in December.

Cafferkey spent almost a month in isolation before being released but on Friday was flown from a Glasgow hospital to London’s Royal Free Hospital, which houses Britain’s only isolation ward for ebola patients.

Cafferkey “is in a serious condition,” the hospital said.

“The Ebola virus can only be transmitted by direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person while they are symptomatic so the risk to the general public remains low.”

Cafferkey, from Cambuslang, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, had been admitted to hospital in Glasgow on Tuesday after feeling unwell and was transferred to London early today “due to an unusual late complication of her previous illness,” said Professor Paul Cosford, medical director at the Public Health England agency.

“She was transported in a military aircraft under the supervision of experts. She will now be treated in isolation in line with nationally agreed guidelines.”