Man suspected of infected by Ebola virus in Brazil. (Photo : Getty Images/John Moore)
UPDATE: The man was tested negative, Reuters reported.
A 46-year-old man is being tested for potential Ebola virus infection in Brazil. He was quarantined and flown to Evandro Chagas Institute in Fiocruz in special a military plane on Wednesday following discovery of symptoms similar to Ebola.
The scare is a reminiscent of a similar episode in October 2014 when another men exhibited signs of Ebola disease following his return to Brazil from Africa and later tested negative.
The man belonging to Minas Gerais province reportedly made a recent visit to Guinea, the African country that continues to struggle to contain Ebola outbreak, just a few days ago. Two days after he landed in Brazil on Nov. 6, he complained of muscle pains and headaches. Doctors at a local public health clinic he visited suspected him of having Ebola symptoms and alerted the national authorities.
As a precautionary measure, the health unit is sealed and the patient has been airlifted to Rio de Janeiro for further tests. He was now kept in an isolated ward at Evandro Chagas Institute in Fiocruz and blood samples are being investigated. The Ebola test results will be announced within a day. If confirmed, this could be the first instance of confirmed Ebola symptoms in Brazil.
Marcelo Castro, Brazil's health minister, has assured the press and people that the authorities are "on alert and working in a transparent manner" and the government is ready to tackle any Ebola outbreak. The man may be subject to another blood test 48 hours after first one, if results show no stain of Ebola virus.
Ebola infection leads to viral hemorrhagic fever with the onset of symptoms, such as headaches, sore throat, fever and muscle pain between two to 20 days. It progresses to diarrhea, vomiting, internal bleeding and impaired liver and kidney functions. The disease has between 50 and 95 percent mortality rate. Ebola virus transmits when one comes in contact with body fluid of an infected patient or animal.
The worst Ebola outbreak was witnessed in March 2014, as thousands in three West African countries, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, were tested positive for the virus, according to BBC. While 11,000 died, four-time of that number suffered from the disease. The governments in Guinea and Liberia are still struggling to eradicate Ebola completely.
