A South Korean health worker working in Ebola-hit Sierra Leone will be transported to a hospital in Germany this week to undergo three-week monitoring for a possible contraction of the highly contagious virus, Seoul's government said Friday, according to Yonhap News Agency.
The unidentified Korean medical worker will be moved to Germany on Saturday morning (Korean Time) after being placed at risk of being exposed to the virus while collecting blood from an Ebola patient, according to the foreign and health ministries.
The health worker's left index finger "touched" the needle through a partly ripped glove. The worker did not sustain any external injury and has not shown symptoms of infection such as fever or vomiting, the government said.
But the medical worker will be closely monitored in an isolated unit at the unspecified hospital for up to 21 days, the maximum incubation period for the virus, it added.
The health worker is one of the 10-strong medical team sent by South Korea to an Ebola clinic built by Britain in Goderich, near Sierra Leone's capital Freetown.
Seoul's first medical team kicked off its four-week mission on Dec. 27 in Sierra Leone. It plans to send a total of 30 medical workers in three batches to the West African country.
South Korea has joined global efforts to fight Ebola by sending medical workers and offering a combined US$12.6 million in assistance. The virus is estimated to have killed more than 7,900 people since December 2013, according to the World Health Organization.
The transportation plan is part of Seoul's preliminary deals on Ebola cooperation with Europe and the United States.
If a South Korean medical worker becomes infected with the virus, he or she will be transferred to a hospital in Europe.
"The decision was made based on the principle that the safety of a Seoul health worker should be prioritized," said Oh Young-ju, director-general at the foreign ministry's development cooperation bureau.
"Regardless of the move, South Korea will dispatch other medical personnel as planned," she added.
The second batch is expected to leave Seoul on Jan. 10 and the remainder likely will be sent on Feb. 7, the foreign ministry said earlier.