The Duke University Hospital is currently monitoring and evaluating the condition of a patient with suspected Ebola virus. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced Sunday night that the patient was isolated at the hospital in Durham after developing a fever and was being tested for Ebola.
North Carolina state health authorities stressed that the patient, who entered the United States from Liberia on Friday, had no known exposure to Ebola and no other symptoms besides fever. The unidentified patient is quarantined at Duke University Hospital and the patient's blood sample would be tested at a state-run health laboratory on Monday.
The health authorities said the patient left Liberia and arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport on Friday. According to Fox 8 News, the patient arrived in Person County on Saturday and developed a fever on Sunday. The patient was then transferred to Duke University Hospital for further testing and evaluation for potential Ebola virus infection.
"It is important to note that the individual's fever could indicate other illnesses," a state health official said during a press conference Sunday night.
The state health authorities also said the patient is being tested to determine other possible causes of fever. In a Los Angeles Times report, the officials said the risk to the public is extremely low.
"The patient will remain in a contained, isolated and secured unit until the results of testing are known," the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services stated. "These precautions are being taken based on the patient's recent travel from Liberia."
Duke University Health System Executive Vice President Dr. William J. Fulkerson Jr. released an official statement about the potential Ebola patient, as reported by Forbes.
"We expect to know the results of this test from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services sometime Monday morning," the statement said. "Despite not knowing the patient's Ebola status, we are approaching this as though it was a confirmed case. Therefore, the patient is being cared for in the same contained, isolated and secured unit within Duke University Hospital in which an actual Ebola patient would be treated."
"The patient is receiving care from a seasoned team of Duke clinical professionals. We have anticipated this scenario for several weeks now, and a plan to manage it is in place," the hospital official added. "It's worth noting that the risk of transmission of the virus to any patients, visitors, employees or healthcare professionals within the Duke University Hospital is extremely low and highly unlikely."
Because of a potential Ebola case, Chief State Epidemiologist Megan Davies called the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and they promptly called the North Carolina Division of Public Health.
The Duke University suspected Ebola case is not the first in the US. The first person diagnosed in the country was a Liberian man, Thomas Eric Duncan. Two nurses who treated him were infected and have been cured. Dr. Craig Spencer, an American physician with Ebola is being treated at Bellevue Hospital Center in New York. On Saturday, his doctors said he was stable and responding well to treatment.
In the US, at least four other Americans, including two doctors, a missionary and a freelance journalist, have contracted Ebola in West Africa. They have received treatment and have been cured. Duncan is the only Ebola victim to die in the country.
The World Health Organization has estimated that nearly 5,000 people have died of Ebola in the world's worst outbreak, which has been traced back in December. Most reported cases have been in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Due to a possible Ebola case isolated at Duke University Hospital, the North Carolina state health department emphasized that the deadly virus is not spread through the air, water or food, or by being near an infected person.
"Ebola is only spread through unprotected contact with blood or bloody fluids from an infected person who has symptoms, or with objects like needles that have been contaminated with the virus," the department's statement said.
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