A six-year-old Ebola patient has vanished from a treatment centre in Beni, eastern DR Congo, triggering a frantic search by health authorities. The child, whose identity has been withheld, was last seen on Tuesday evening. The missing patient has sparked fears of a wider outbreak, with the UK's emergency response team now on standby.
Sources within the Department of Health and Social Care confirm that a rapid deployment unit is poised to fly to the region within hours. The team, drawn from the UK's Public Health Rapid Support Team, includes specialists in contact tracing and infection control.
The development comes as a blow to containment efforts. The World Health Organisation had reported only five new cases last week, raising hopes the outbreak was in check. Now, the disappearance threatens to unravel weeks of progress.
Whitehall insiders say the Cabinet Office has convened an emergency COBRA meeting for tomorrow morning. The prime minister is said to be 'closely monitoring' the situation. One senior official told me: 'This is the worst-case scenario. A child missing with Ebola. The implications are catastrophic.'
The child's family has been questioned, but no leads have emerged. Local authorities suspect the patient may have been taken by relatives who distrust medical workers. Mistrust of international organisations runs deep in the region, fuelled by years of conflict and conspiracy theories.
Downing Street has declined to comment on the specifics of the UK's response, citing operational security. However, the Foreign Office has updated its travel advice for the region, warning of 'an elevated risk of Ebola transmission'.
Opposition MPs are demanding answers. Labour's shadow health secretary called for an urgent statement in the Commons, accusing the government of being 'caught napping'. The Lib Dems have echoed the call.
But those on the ground are less concerned with parliamentary point-scoring. The missing child is a ticking time bomb. Each hour that passes increases the chance of wider infection. The UK team's role will be to support local health workers, who are already stretched thin.
This is a story that will test the UK's global health response capabilities. The last Ebola outbreak in West Africa killed over 11,000 people. The current strain, the Zaire strain, has a fatality rate of up to 90% in some settings.
The clock is ticking. The search continues.
