A doctor working for medical-aid NGO Emergency in Sierra Leone has become the first Italian to contract Ebola during the current outbreak of the deadly virus.
The doctor was scheduled to land in Italy later on Monday and will be treated at Rome's Spallanzani Institute, which specialises in infectious diseases.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said earlier this month that some 5,000 people have died following the Ebola outbreak in west Africa and over 13,000 cases of infection have been confirmed.
The NGO Emergency said in a statement that the doctor, who had been working at a centre in the African coastal town of Lakka, was in a good condition, even though he had started to show symptoms of the virus. Italian Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin said Monday that everything possible was being done to help the stricken doctor.
"I want to reassure the family that our doctor is fine, he had no fever or other symptoms during the night, this morning he had breakfast and he continues to drink," said Lorenzin.
"I would like to express my closeness to him and his family and assure them that the Italian government is everything to help our compatriot".
Officials with the medical aid group said that although proper procedures had been followed at the centre in Sierra Leone, infection was always a possibility.
"No health intervention in an epidemic as serious as Ebola can be considered completely free of risk," the group said.
The stricken doctor's identity was not released to protect his privacy, the group said.
As many as 100 new cases of Ebola are being reported daily in Sierra Leone, Emergency said.
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