--- title: Nurse Who Had Ebola Readmitted Into Isolation Unit description: Authorities say the risk of contagion is very low canonical: https://time.com/4067694/ebola-scottish-nurse-pauline-cafferkey-isolation-unit/ author: Rishi Iyengar article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-09T09:15:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T11:39:43.383Z article:section: Health og:title: Scottish Nurse Who Had Ebola Placed Back in Isolation Unit og:description: Authorities say she is probably not contagious. og:url: https://time.com/4067694/ebola-scottish-nurse-pauline-cafferkey-isolation-unit/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ccc14dd8d91662f/6988679a8e06014bd8462c78/h_52298322.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Pauline Cafferkey Ebola patient back in isolation og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Scottish Nurse Who Had Ebola Placed Back in Isolation Unit twitter:description: Authorities say she is probably not contagious. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ccc14dd8d91662f/6988679a8e06014bd8462c78/h_52298322.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Scottish Nurse Who Had Ebola Returns to Isolation Unit Due to 'Late Complication' ## Video: Watch One Man’s Story of Surviving Ebola [Watch (HLS stream): Watch One Man’s Story of Surviving Ebola](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/XfeUoCr9.m3u8) (1:32)  _Published 2014-10-03. Watch One Man’s Story of Surviving Ebola_ by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Oct 9, 2015 9:15 AM UTC  A handout picture shows Scottish healthcare worker Pauline Cafferkey at the Royal Free Hospital in London, England, 24 January 2015. A handout picture shows Scottish healthcare worker Pauline Cafferkey at the Royal Free Hospital in London, England, 24 January 2015.LISA FERGUSON —EPA by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Oct 9, 2015 9:15 AM UTC A Scottish nurse previously diagnosed with Ebola while working in Sierra Leone was [placed in isolation](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-34483584) in London Friday morning after suffering an “unusual late complication” from the disease. The National Health Service branch of Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) confirmed that Pauline Cafferkey does have the Ebola virus in her system but said it was a remnant of her earlier infection, the BBC reported. Cafferkey, who was transferred to the Royal Free Hospital in London early on Friday after being admitted to Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital for an illness on Tuesday, is most likely not contagious, according to medical staff. “Pauline’s condition is a complication of a previous infection with the Ebola virus,” Emilia Crighton, the NHSGGC director of public health, told the BBC, adding that the risk to the public is very low. “In line with normal procedures in cases such as this, we have identified a small number of close contacts of Pauline’s that we will be following up as a precaution,” she said. More than 11,000 people died over the past year from the disease. Last week marked the first without any new reported cases of the virus since March 2014. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-34483584)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4067694/ebola-scottish-nurse-pauline-cafferkey-isolation-unit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4067694/ebola-scottish-nurse-pauline-cafferkey-isolation-unit/"},"headline":"Scottish Nurse Who Had Ebola Returns to Isolation Unit Due to 'Late Complication'","datePublished":"2015-10-09T09:15:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:39:43.383Z","description":"Authorities say the risk of contagion is very low","url":"https://time.com/4067694/ebola-scottish-nurse-pauline-cafferkey-isolation-unit/","keywords":["infectious diseases","london","Sierra Leone","ebola","Nurse","Scotland topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ccc14dd8d91662f/6988679a8e06014bd8462c78/h_52298322.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ccc14dd8d91662f/6988679a8e06014bd8462c78/h_52298322.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Pauline Cafferkey Ebola patient back in isolation","caption":"Pauline Cafferkey Ebola patient back in isolation","creditText":"LISA FERGUSON —EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-diseases/","name":"infectious diseases"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4067694/ebola-scottish-nurse-pauline-cafferkey-isolation-unit/","name":"Scottish Nurse Who Had Ebola Returns to Isolation Unit Due to 'Late Complication'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch One Man’s Story of Surviving Ebola","description":"Watch One Man’s Story of Surviving Ebola","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/XfeUoCr9/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-10-03T18:55:32.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/XfeUoCr9.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4067694/ebola-scottish-nurse-pauline-cafferkey-isolation-unit/","duration":"PT1M32S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4067694/ebola-scottish-nurse-pauline-cafferkey-isolation-unit/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```