France has confirmed its first case of Ebola – a doctor who had returned from a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The doctor was “immediately admitted to a specialised facility” and is in a stable condition, the French health ministry said on Wednesday.

DR Congo announced an Ebola outbreak last month, but experts believe the virus had been circulating for weeks previously.

More than 260 people are confirmed to have died from the virus in the central African country, while 1,000 people have been infected.

This is the first Ebola case to have been confirmed in Europe, although an American doctor who tested positive in DR Congo was treated at a German hospital last month.

DR Congo’s neighbour, Uganda, has also confirmed Ebola cases. The World Health Organization (WHO) says 20 people are known to have been infected there and two deaths have been confirmed.

France’s health ministry stressed that the risk to the population was “very low”. Likewise, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “the risk to the rest of the world is low” and that there was “no need to panic”.

Efforts are underway to trace people who may have been in contact with the doctor.

Healthcare workers are especially at risk from Ebola, which is spread through bodily fluids.