Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey 'no longer critical' and showing signs of improvement, Royal Free Hospital confirms

Scottish nurse remains in isolation

Pauline Cafferkey contracted Ebola while volunteering in Sierra Leone (PA)

The British nurse Pauline Cafferkey, who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone, is “showing signs of improvement and is no longer critically ill”, the Royal Free Hospital in London said.

The Scottish public health nurse remains in isolation at the hospital where she is receiving specialist care.

She was diagnosed with Ebola after returning from Sierra Leone to Glasgow and was initially admitted to the city's Gartnavel Hospital on December 29, then transferred to the Royal Free Hospital the following day.

The hospital said: “The Royal Free Hospital is pleased to announce that Pauline Cafferkey is showing signs of improvement and is no longer critically ill. She remains in isolation as she receives specialist care for the Ebola virus.”

Ms Cafferkey, from Cambuslang in South Lanarkshire, had volunteered with Save the Children at the Ebola Treatment Centre in Kerry Town, Sierra Leone, before returning to the UK.

Save the Children has launched an investigation into how she was infected but admits it may never establish the exact circumstances.

She flew back to the UK via Casablanca in Morocco. Her temperature was tested seven times before she flew from Heathrow to Glasgow and she was cleared to travel.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has hailed the “quiet heroism” of the nurse and others who “make all of us safer by placing themselves at risk”.

PA