France's first diagnosed Ebola patient recovers after treatment

The doctor had tested positive for the virus after returning to France on 23 June from a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is fighting a major outbreak of the virus, which can cause a deadly hemorrhagic fever.

The doctor, who had almost no symptoms throughout the illness, returned home after two negative PCR tests, according to French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist.

France announces first Ebola case in doctor returned from DR Congo

The case was the first identified outside the African continent for this epidemic, and the first ever case to be detected in France. In 2014, during an outbreak in West Africa, two patients were transported to France, but they had been diagnosed abroad.

The doctor, who was working for the Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA), an international humanitarian organisation, travelled to France on an Air France flight, and health authorities identified five other passengers as possible contacts, who were put in isolation as a precaution.

The latest Ebola outbreak in the DRC was declared on 15 May and has since killed at least 506 people among the 1,561 confirmed infections, according to the latest government figures released Monday.

(With newswires)