Nurse becomes first Ebola victim diagnosed in Britain

An Ebola patient is transferred on to a Hercules transport plane at Glasgow Airport in Scotland December 30, 2014, to be transported to London. [Photo/Agencies]

LONDON - A health worker who has become the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in Britain was being treated at a London hospital on Tuesday after contracting the disease in West Africa.

The woman arrived from Scotland at the Royal Free hospital, Britain's designated Ebola treatment centre, in an ambulance accompanied by police vehicles, a witness said.

"The latest update we have on the condition of the patient is that she is doing as well as can be expected in the circumstances," Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said.

The Royal Free Hospital confirmed the patient was being treated for the Ebola virus, and named her as Pauline Cafferkey, a 39-year-old nurse with 16 years experience who normally works at a Scottish health centre.

The London hospital's "High-level isolation unit" will allow doctors to treat Cafferkey while she lies in a plastic tent, limiting the scope for the disease, which is transmitted by contact with bodily fluids, to be passed to medical staff.

Officials said three other patients were being tested for Ebola in Britain.