UK hospital ward partially closed due to ‘suspected Ebola virus’ case

BREAKING

As per STV, part of a ward at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow has been closed after a patient arrived with a suspected case of Ebola at the Acute Receiving Unit early on Tuesday morning (30 June).

The patient is currently undergoing tests to confirm if they have caught the disease which has seen an outbreak in recent weeks in central Africa.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) confirmed that there are “well established protocols for assessing and testing travellers arriving in the UK from areas affected by Ebola”.

A spokesperson said: “Where required, contact tracing will occur and contacts may undergo clinical assessment and precautionary testing.

“The UKHSA Returning Workers Scheme (RWS) which aims to protect and monitor the health of those who may travel from the UK to affected areas for their work, has been activated. Organisations deploying workers to affected areas where they may be exposed to Ebola through their work, should register those workers with the scheme.”

The Ebola outbreak in Africa has been going on now for a number of weeks.

Reports of a spread of Ebola began in mid-May 2026 with health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo officially declaring on 15 May.

Only a matter of days later, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said the situation was severe and declared it as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

This has led to a sizeable response to the outbreak in central Africa.

The outbreak has infected more than ⁠1,000 people and killed ​267 and has seen the most severe first month of any Ebola outbreak before, the WHO said.

If the patient is confirmed to have Ebola, it would be the first case to be detected in Scotland since nurse Pauline Cafferkey underwent treatment in 2016 after a recurrence of the illness.

PHS said: “There are currently no confirmed cases of Ebola in Scotland and the risk to the general public remains low.”

Just days after a case confirmed in France

The news comes just days after France reported its first case of the disease.

The French health ministry said that a doctor who had returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after being on a humanitarian mission in the country, tested positive for Ebola.

The patient was being ​isolated and ⁠authorities are contact tracing, ⁠the ministry said, adding that the risk for the general ‌European population was low.