BUTOLPOST – Alertness regarding the spread of the Ebola virus in Israel has increased again after the Israeli Ministry of Health reported another suspected case of Ebola. The patient is a citizen who recently returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), an area still hit by the Ebola outbreak.
In an official statement released Sunday (21/6), the Israeli Ministry of Health said the patient came seeking medical attention after experiencing fever, headache and diarrhea, two days after arriving from the DRC.
“A citizen who returned to Israel from the DRC two days ago sought medical treatment after experiencing fever, headache and diarrhea,” the ministry said in a statement.
Until now, the patient’s status is still suspected of Ebola. Laboratory examinations are still ongoing and the results are expected to be known in the next few days.
As an anticipatory step, the patient was immediately placed in an isolation room according to the protocol for handling dangerous infectious diseases. He is currently undergoing treatment and observation at Sheba Tel Hashomer Medical Center, Israel’s referral hospital for high-risk infectious diseases.
This case is the second suspected Ebola case reported by Israel in the last two days. The day before, the country’s health authorities also announced that there was another suspected Ebola case that was undergoing examination.
The increase in reports of suspected Ebola cases in Israel comes amid global alertness to the spread of the disease. Last May, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda as a health emergency that had the potential to spread to other countries.
WHO also assesses that the risk of Ebola spreading in the region is still at a high level, so countries are asked to tighten supervision of travelers from affected areas.
Israeli health authorities emphasized that they will continue to monitor the development of cases and provide laboratory test results as soon as they are available. Until now there has been no confirmation that the patient is positive for the Ebola virus.***
