British Ebola patient flying to UK for hospital treatment

A Royal Air Force plane carrying a British citizen who contracted the deadly Ebola virus in Sierra Leone took off from the airport in the capital Freetown on Sunday bound for Britain, a Reuters witness said.

The Briton, believed to be a medical volunteer who had been working at an Ebola treatment site in the West African country, was brought by ambulance to the grey Boeing C-17 cargo plane.

The person is believed to be the first Briton to fall victim to the deadly disease that has spread across the West African region since March, the Department of Health said on Saturday.

The World Health Organization estimates that the current Ebola epidemic--the world's worst ever with 1,427 documented deaths--will likely take six to nine months to halt.