The Scots nurse who was left fighting for her life twice after contracting Ebola has admitted that she still faces "a long road to recovery".

Pauline Cafferkey was speaking as she expressed her delight that the London doctor who, along with his team, twice saved her life had been honoured with a knighthood.

Ms Cafferkey, from Cambuslang, South Lanarkshire, contracted Ebola in December 2014 while volunteering in Sierra Leone and was admitted to London's Royal Free Hospital where she was treated by Dr Michael Jacobs and the infectious diseases team.

She was discharged on January 24 last year having made what the hospital described as a complete recovery.

But she readmitted to the hospital last October with a bout of meningitis caused by the lingering virus. At one stage she was described as being critically ill.

Doctors said she had come close to death but she made a full recovery and was discharged on November 11 and transferred to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.

She spent several weeks there but was able to get home in time for Christmas. She is now recuperating with family.

Dr Jacobs, a consultant in infectious diseases, was awarded a knighthood in the Queen's New Year's Honours for his work on Ebola.

A colleague, Dr Daniel Martin, consultant in critical care medicine, was given an OBE for his work in the hospital’s high-level isolation unit, where Ebola patients were treated.

In an interview with the Sunday Mail, Ms Cafferkey, 40, said she felt Dr Jacobs's honour was "very well deserved".

She said: "Dr Jacobs went above and beyond what was required. He is a very humble man who always emphasised that everything was a team effort."

She added: "I have a lot of rehab still to do. It's going to be a long road to recovery."

Dr Jacobs said he was "honoured and humbled" by his knighthood. He said: "It is the nature of honours systems that they recognise individuals, but this truly was a team effort and I can’t praise too highly my exceptional, dedicated and skilful colleagues at the Royal Free. I am particularly grateful for the tremendous support and opportunities that they have given me.

“This has been a devastating two years for Ebola-affected countries in West Africa. The patients who we cared for at the Royal Free London exemplify the extraordinary courage and humanity of everyone who went to West Africa to help with the international aid effort. We are privileged and proud to have played a small part in the NHS humanitarian response to this medical emergency.”

The Ebola outbreak in west Africa, the worse in history, led to the deaths of some 11,300 people.

Guinea, the first of three countries to be affected, was declared free of Ebola at the end of December and began a 90-day period of heightened surveillance.

Sierra Leone was declared Ebola-free in early November. Liberia, the third and final country to be affected, reported three new cases in November, less than three months after the country was declared free of the virus.