SA man tests negative for Ebola - NCID

The ambulance that was used to transport a man suspectedof having Ebola to Addington Hospital is scrubbed down by a worker in protective clothing. The photograph was taken by an Addington staff member and texted to The Mercury after the Health Department shut down communication on the issue.

The ambulance that was used to transport a man suspectedof having Ebola to Addington Hospital is scrubbed down by a worker in protective clothing. The photograph was taken by an Addington staff member and texted to The Mercury after the Health Department shut down communication on the issue.

Published Oct 31, 2014

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Durban - A South African man who returned from Sierra Leone has tested negative for Ebola, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Friday.

“The patient is in a stable condition in hospital,” said spokeswoman Nombuso Shabalala.

“Travellers without symptoms, returning from the Ebola-affected countries, pose no risk of infection to others.”

She said people working in the retail, security, and mining industries in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia were not at risk. Only those who handled blood, faeces, and vomit of infected people, without proper protection, were at risk.

The NICD denied a claim on Thursday that the man had contracted Ebola.

The man, who worked as a fleet manager in Sierra Leone, became anxious when he returned and was referred to Addington Hospital in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.

Staff at the hospital told The Mercury on Thursday that the patient was allowed to walk out of Addington Hospital on Wednesday when he decided he no longer felt sick,

But on Thursday he was admitted again, this time with health officials dressed in protective gear and the police escorting the ambulance to the entrance of the isolation ward.

Professor Lucille Blumberg from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed the man who had returned from work in Sierra Leone had become anxious about his health and was referred to Addington.

“The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health arranged for his admission again yesterday to allow for further assessment and to check specifically for other infections, including malaria, given the absence of risk factors and no direct exposure to persons with Ebola,” Blumberg said.

She said although the patient was not considered a suspected Ebola case, the NICD was conducting an Ebola test to allay patient and health worker fears.

An earlier statement by the institute said the patient had been complaining of a fever on Wednesday, but suddenly decided he was no longer ill and had been allowed to leave the hospital without being tested for the virus.

The provincial Department of Health has been criticised for its “irresponsible” handling of the case by not immediately isolating the man.

Sapa and The Mercury

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