A doctor from Italy working for a nongovernmental organization tested positive for Ebola while in Sierra Leone. He will be flown to Rome for treatment, according to authorities Monday.

The doctor is the first Italian to contract the deadly disease and is reportedly doing well. The Italian Health Ministry said in a statement that the man will be treated at Rome's National Institute for Infective Diseases. He will be transported with biohazard equipment onboard a military plane.

"The procedures for transfer of the Italian doctor who is positive for Ebola do not present any risk to the community," director of the Department of Infectious Disease at the Spallanzini clinic, Gianni Rezza, said. "We have been ready for this possibility and are already equipped to manage the situation. It is our moral duty to provide therapy and support to co nationals struck by Ebola: better here than in Sierra Leone. We can resolve this safely."

An update on the doctor's medical condition is expected Tuesday morning, according to a ministry spokesperson. Until that time, few other details were available.

"Our doctor is doing well, he didn't have fever or other symptoms during the night, this morning he had breakfast, and is continuing to drink autonomously," Italian Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin said in the statement.

The man had been working since Oct. 18 in a town near the capitol of Freetown with the humanitarian group Emergency before developing a fever and other symptoms.

The Ebola epidemic has killed more than 5,000 people in West Africa. There are currently 26 other Italian doctors still fighting the spread of Ebola with Emergency in Sierra Leone. The disease is transferred via bodily fluid contact from an infected person. In parts of Sierra Leone nearly 100 new cases are reported each day.