London ( CNN ) A Scottish woman diagnosed with Ebola is now asking for experimental treatment of the virus . Pauline Cafferkey , 39 , of Glasgow , is sitting up in her hospital bed , reading and talking , according to a statement from the Royal Free Hospital in London . `` However , the next few days will be crucial , '' said Dr. Michael Jacobs , an infectious diseases consultant . `` The disease has a variable course and we will know much more in a week 's time . '' Cafferkey is the first person to be diagnosed with the virus on UK soil . British media outlets have said she is a public health nurse who was part of a 30-strong team of medical volunteers deployed to Sierra Leone in West Africa by the UK government last month in a joint endeavor with Save the Children . She traveled via Casablanca , Morocco , and London Heathrow Airport before arriving at Glasgow Airport on a British Airways flight late Sunday , the health agency NHS Scotland said . After feeling unwell , she sought medical attention and was reportedly transferred to London on a military aircraft fitted with an isolation pod . The Royal Free Hospital is equipped with a high-level isolation unit , with access restricted to specially trained medical staff . A specially designed tent , with controlled ventilation , is set up over the patient 's bed . A British volunteer nurse , William Pooley , was successfully treated in the unit following his return home from Sierra Leone in August after being diagnosed with Ebola . 'Extremely low ' risk . UK authorities are working to trace those who have come into contact with Cafferkey . The Scottish government has set up a special number for people to call if they traveled on the same London Heathrow-to-Glasgow flight as Cafferkey . British Airways said it was working closely with health authorities in England and Scotland and would help with any information needed . `` The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority and the risk to people on board that individual flight is extremely low , '' the airline said . Ebola patients become infectious only after they display symptoms , such as fever and vomiting . The deadly virus is spread through contact with bodily fluids . A Downing Street spokesman told CNN that British Prime Minister David Cameron and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had discussed the procedures in place to handle such a case . `` They agreed that both governments would remain in close touch and ensure everything possible was done to support the patient and , although the risk to the general population remained low , all measures would be taken to protect public health . '' Scottish woman tests negative . Meanwhile , a woman in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland who 'd fallen ill tested negative for Ebola , the Scottish government said Tuesday . A spokesman for the government said the woman had been in West Africa recently , though she had no direct contact with anyone with Ebola . `` A patient at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary has tested negative for Ebola , '' a Tuesday news release said . `` The individual was transferred to the hospital by the Scottish Ambulance Service yesterday after falling ill while visiting Torridon in the Scottish Highlands . '' According to UK government guidelines , humanitarian workers returning from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa who 've been at high risk of exposure are expected to monitor their own health for 21 days after they get home . As of December 24 , at least 7,693 people had died in the current Ebola outbreak , centered in Liberia , Sierra Leone and Guinea , the World Health Organization said . There have been at least 19,695 cases . CNN 's Bharati Naik contributed to this report .
A health care worker diagnosed with the virus is asking for experimental drug therapy . She is the first to be diagnosed with Ebola in the UK . She fell ill after returning from West Africa as a medical volunteer . A woman in the Scottish Highlands has tested negative for Ebola , government says .