Nigerian Man who was Quarantined In Hong Kong Has No Ebola –Health Officials

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Monday, August 11th, 2014

A Nigerian man who was quarantined after he showed Ebola-like symptoms while travelling to Hong Kong has tested negative for the deadly virus.

The southern Chinese city government said in a statement late on Sunday that the man, 32, had “tested negative for Ebola virus upon preliminary laboratory testing”.

“In the past one month… he had no contact history with sick persons or animals and did not visit health-care facilities. He is currently in stable condition,” a government spokesman said in the statement.

“Since August 9, he has developed diarrhoea and vomiting but no fever. He attended the Accident and Emergency Department of Queen Elizabeth Hospital today and was transferred to Princess Margaret Hospital for treatment under isolation,” added the statement.

The statement added that the department “will continue to closely monitor the development of the overseas situation and the latest recommendations provided by WHO”.

The man arrived in Hong Kong from Lagos, Nigeria’s most populous city, via Dubai on Thursday, and was hospitalised on Sunday after vomiting and having diarrhoea.

The man had been staying at a guesthouse in Chungking Mansions, reported the Xinhua news agency. The building in Tsim Sha Tsui is popular with African and South Asian visitors.

Concerns are growing over the potential spread of the disease, which has claimed nearly 1,000 lives in west Africa this year.

Hong Kong, a densely populated city of some seven million people, is particularly alert to the spread of viruses after severe acute respiratory syndrome killed almost 300 people eleven years ago.

On July 30, the Hong Kong government said it would quarantine as a precaution all people from Ebola-infected areas who showed any symptom of the disease such as fever, vomiting or diarrhoea.

Last week, a woman who showed Ebola-like symptoms after returning from a holiday in Kenya tested negative for the virus.

Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have been hardest hit by the latest epidemic, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) has called the worst outbreak of its kind in four decades.

Nigeria – the most populous nation in Africa – confirmed two new cases on Friday of the often-fatal hemorrhagic disease, bringing the total number of infections to nine, is including two deaths.

-AFP