Health officials suspect Ebola in man who returned from DR Congo
Times of Israel · LC · trust 34/100
A man who recently returned to Israel from the Democratic Republic of Congo is suspected to be suffering from a case of Ebola infection, the Health Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.
Days after returning from the trip, the man sought medical attention when he developed a fever, the ministry said. He was taken to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba and placed in isolation.
The man is undergoing testing, and results are expected within a day, according to the ministry.
The statement stressed that at this stage, Ebola is only a suspicion.
Meanwhile, the ministry is undertaking an epidemiological investigation, it said.
The ministry urged Israelis to avoid all unnecessary travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo or Uganda, and especially to areas within those countries that have active infections.
If a person must travel to one of those countries, they are advised to consult a travel clinic beforehand, the ministry said.
Anyone who has returned from one of those countries is urged to monitor their health.
If they develop a fever or other unusual symptoms within 21 days of their return, they must stay home and avoid contact with others. They must also report their symptoms to the ministry hotline at *5400, and note in the conversation where they returned from.
There has never yet been a confirmed case of Ebola in Israel, according to the Health Ministry.
In June, two patients in Israeli hospitals were suspected of having Ebola, but tested negative.
There were also several suspected cases that turned out to be negative during a previous outbreak in 2014.
Last week, the World Health Organization, along with the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, urged a scale-up of the response to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the DRC.
As of August 7, the DRC had seen 4,209 confirmed cases and 1,916 deaths since mid-May, when the outbreak was officially declared, the WHO said, adding that 828 people had recovered from the disease.
Uganda has seen 20 confirmed cases and 2 deaths. France had a confirmed case in June – a doctor who had returned from the DRC – and that patient recovered.
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism , please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE , as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Read the original at Times of Israel →
Open in TruthVane →