Ebola Virus Outbreak News & Symptoms: Low-risk California Patient Being Tested for Ebola Virus
Another possible Ebola patient has emerged in the U.S. in a northern California hospital Tuesday.
CNN reported the individual, who has not been identified, is being kept in isolation at the Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center.
The patient is considered a low risk, but caution is still being used, the California Department of Public Health said, according to CNN.
There are currently no confirmed cases of Ebola in California, and the Center for Disease Control will be testing the patient's blood samples to determine if the Ebola virus is present.
"In order to protect our patients, staff and physicians, even though infection with the virus is unconfirmed, we are taking the actions recommended by the CDC as a precaution, just as we do for other patients with a suspected infectious disease. This includes isolation of the patient in a specially equipped negative pressure room and the use of personal protective equipment by trained staff, coordinated with infectious disease specialists, " said Dr. Stephen Paroli, an infectious disease specialist, in the Kaiser news release, according to KCRA NBC 3.
University of California, Davis, infectious disease specialist Jonna Mazet told KCRA the public should not panic.
"You should know that [Ebola is] hard to get," she said. "You would have to be in real close contact."
Mazet said that with more people aware of the disease, because of its spread in West Africa, more people -- especially those who have visited West African nations -- are entering hospitals with minor symptoms.
The CDC says Ebola can only spread after symptoms appear, which occurs two to 21 days after exposure, but more commonly symptoms will appear eight to 10 days after exposure, according to USA Today.
Symptoms include severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain and a lack of appetite.
To-date, the virus has claimed more than 1,229 lives in West African nations -- including Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
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