OSLO (Reuters) – A Norwegian working for Doctors Without Borders in Sierra Leone was infected with Ebola virus and will be brought home for the treatment, the organization said on Monday.
The worker was placed in isolation on Sunday after she developed a fever, the organization said. Tests confirmed she was infected with the virus. She is the first Norwegian victim of the disease.
“We are working to get our colleague back home as soon as possible,” said Anne Cecilie Kaltenborn, a Norwegian representative of the group, which is known by its French initials, MSF.
Once she arrives in Norway, the patient will be isolated and treated in Oslo, MSF said. The organization declined to provide any details, including the patient’s name. The Norwegian news agency NTB identified her as a woman.
The Norwegian foreign ministry said earlier today the Nordic country contribute another 89 million to 184 million Norwegian crowns to fight the spread of Ebola. The ministry said military cargo planes would transport medical personnel and equipment to the infected areas in West Africa.
The ministry also said it was preparing places at the Oslo University Hospital for any Norwegian Ebola cases. It did not comment on the Norwegian patient coming back from Sierra Leone.
(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Larry King)