A patient with Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever has been admitted to the high level isolation unit (HLIU) at the Royal Free Hospital.

The HLIU is run by a specially trained team of doctors, nurses, therapists and laboratory staff and is designed to ensure our staff can safely treat a patient with this type of viral infection.

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever is usually spread by tick bites or contact with infected livestock in countries where the disease is endemic. The patient admitted to the HLIU had recently returned to the UK from Central Asia. It does not spread easily between people and the risk to the public is very low.

Dr Sir Michael Jacobs, consultant in infectious diseases at the Royal Free London, said: “The Royal Free Hospital is a specialist centre for treating patients with viral infections such as Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever. Our high level isolation unit is run by an expert team of doctors, nurses, therapists and laboratory staff and is designed to ensure we can safely treat patients with these kind of infections.”