UK Nurse Contracts Ebola

Nurse from UK has contracted the virus Ebola disease, is being transported back for treatment.

The unnamed woman, known to be working for the British military in Kerry Town, is being transported to London's Royal Free Hospital.

The RAF plane she is on left the airport in Freetown this morning.

An investigation has been launched into exactly how she fell ill, at the same British-run clinic where Scottish Ebola survivor Pauline Cafferkey contracted the virus.

Ms Cafferkey had volunteered with Save The Children at the Ebola Treatment Centre in January. She returned to the UK before making a full recovery.

Another British nurse, Will Pooley, also survived the contagious disease after contracting it while working in Sierra Leone last year.

No British nationals have died from Ebola. Ms Cafferkey and Mr Pooley were the only Britons to have tested positive for the disease until the latest case.

A Public Health England spokesperson said: "An investigation is currently under way and tracing of individuals in recent contact with the diagnosed worker is being undertaken.

"Any individuals identified as having had close contact will be assessed and a clinical decision made regarding bringing them to the UK."

A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said: "Despite there being stringent procedures and controls in place to safeguard UK service personnel, there is always a level of risk in deployments on operations of this type."

An estimated 700 British servicemen and women have been deployed to Sierra Leone to help in the response against Ebola, which swept through West Africa last year.

They have helped build and staff medical centres such as the Kerry Town Ebola Crisis Centre which opened in November last year, along with a number of volunteers from the NHS.