A female British healthcare worker who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone is being flown home for treatment, the defence ministry says.

A Royal Air Force plane sent to the west African country on Wednesday is bringing the military servicewoman back to be treated in London’s Royal Free Hospital, an MoD spokeswoman said.

The condition of the patient, who was publicly confirmed to have Ebola on Wednesday, is unknown.

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She is the third Briton to contract the virus in Sierra – two nurses, William Pooley and Pauline Cafferkey, recovered after being treated in Britain.

Ebola has swept through Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia since December 2013, killing more than 9900 people, according to the World Health Organisation.

Britain has focused its aid effort on its former colony, Sierra Leone, and up to 700 British military personnel have been deployed along with numerous civilian medical staff.