First confirmed Italian case of ebola

An Italian doctor who tested positive for ebola in Sierra Leone is being flown to Rome's infectious diseases clinic at the Lazzaro Spallanzani hospital on 24 November, according to the Italian government.

Italy's ministries for health, defence and foreign affairs have put into action a co-ordinated emergency plan to transfer and treat the doctor in the crisis infectious diseases unit of the hospital on Via Portuense.

Expressing her solidarity with the patient – Italy's first confirmed ebola case – Italy's health minister Beatrice Lorenzin underlined that the “entire Italian government is on the side of our compatriot."

The epidemic continues to spread in the west African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone where it has killed almost 5,500 people since March. The 2014 outbreak is the world's deadliest since the virus was first detected in 1976.

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