Photo Credit: Tina Fineberg for The New York Times
The lethal virus is causing the worst outbreak ever seen
Mount Sinai Hospital is examining a sick patient who recently returned from a West African country where the deadly Ebola virus has been spreading, but authorities said it’s unlikely that the man has Ebola according to NBC news.
The hospital officials indicated that the man was admitted to the Mount Sinai Hospital emergency room Monday with a high fever and gastrointestinal symptoms.
Ebola symptoms include fever, sore throat, muscle pain, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the World Health Organization. The organization also specified that symptoms can show up as much as 21 days after exposure to the virus.
In addition, the patient was put into “strict” isolation and officials are awaiting test results that are expected to be returned within 24 to 48 hours from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Additional tests are also being done for other illnesses that could cause his symptoms.
However, at a news conference Monday, the city health department said the odds were that the unidentified man does not have Ebola.
NBC news reported a statement from the hospital:
All necessary steps are being taken to ensure the safety of all patients, visitors and staff.
Furthermore, the risk of Ebola spreading to the U.S. is very slim. In fact, it is a rare disease that is spread only through direct contact with bodily fluids. According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) because Ebola is such a rare disease and its outbreaks are unpredictable, making widespread vaccination an unfeasible proposition, CBS news reported.
However, if Ebola would ever reached New York City (though it is unlikely), health officials say hospitals are prepared.
“We are prepared, to the best of our knowledge, for any patient who comes here who’s suspected of Ebola virus,” Dr. Ross Wilson, who is in charge of New York City’s 11 hospital emergency rooms, told NBC 4 New York last week.
The deadly virus has caused death in the southeastern Guinea city of Guekedou. It also sickened more than 1,600 people, killing nearly 900 in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Ebola’s average death rate is about 70 percent, but can range between 20 percent and 90 percent, depending on the strain, Fauci said.
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