Ebola Virus & Outbreak NYC 2014: Patient in New York 'Unlikely' to Have Ebola
A man was admitted to New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital on Monday with symptoms similar to those out the Ebola virus that is ravaging West Africa, according to CNN.
The patient came to the hospital with a high fever and gastrointestinal symptoms. He was isolated from the rest of the hospital, and doctors are examining his symptoms.
"Odds are that it's not Ebola,"said Dr. Jeremy Boal, the chief medical officer of the Mount Sinai Health System. "It's much more likely that it's a much more common condition."
The patient did just return from a country in West Africa, where the disease has killed more than 700 people since it started in Guinea in May. The disease is particularly troublesome because there is no cure. It kills about 60 percent of people who contract the virus. The current outbreak is the worst on record.
The New York City Department of Health released a statement about the man being tested for Ebola, hoping to calm fears that the disease has spread to the biggest city in the U.S.
"After consultation with CDC and Mount Sinai, the Health Department has concluded that the patient is unlikely to have Ebola," the statement said, according to the Raycom News Network. "Specimens are being tested for common causes of illness and to definitively exclude Ebola."
The Centers for Disease Control said that since the African outbreak, six people have returned to the U.S. with Ebola-like symptoms, and all six tested negative for the virus. This number doesn't include the two Americans who were airlifted from Africa to Atlanta to receive treatment for Ebola.
One of the few silver linings in the Ebola outbreak is that it's not as easy to catch as other deadly viruses. It cannot be contracted via airborne pathogens, only through contact with bodily fluids of someone already infected.
The virus can take three weeks after contraction before symptoms manifest, increasing the spread. Those symptoms include sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat. They later progress to vomiting, diarrhea, impaired kidney and liver function and sometimes internal and external bleeding.
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