Ebola outbreak: Man quarantined in Hawaii hospital

A man suspected of being infected with the Ebola virus has been quarantined at a hospital in Hawaii. 

 

He is currently being treated in isolation at the island's Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, where health officials said he was sent after showing symptoms of the disease. 

 

However, spokespeople said the team was being especially cautious in its diagnosis, noting the symptoms could be the result of a different disease. 

 

“We are early in the investigation of a patient — very, very early — who we’re investigating that might have Ebola,”  Dr Melissa Viray of the Hawaii department of health told NY Daily News.

 

“It’s very possible that they do and they have Ebola. I think it’s also more likely that they have another condition that presents with similar symptoms.”

 

The man has not yet been tested for the virus, and for patient confidentiality reasons it has not been made clear whether he had recently travelled to West Africa.

 

It was only a day and a half ago that a man in Texas was identified as having contracted the virus. He had recently returned from a trip to Liberia – one of the countries worst affected by the epidemic in West Africa. He was the first person diagnosed as having the disease in the US. 

 

So far, the epidemic which broke out in February has killed over 3,000 people according to the World Health organisation.