UPDATE: The University Health Network says the the patient being tested for Ebola has negative negative, and is out of isolation.
TORONTO – A patient at a Toronto hospital is being tested for Ebola as well as other possible illnesses.
Toronto’s University Health Network (UHN) confirmed a patient who had recently traveled to West Africa was admitted to one of its four hospitals with a fever, but wouldn’t say which hospital or what West African country.
The watch list for countries experiencing an Ebola outbreak are Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria.
Health network spokesperson Gillian Howard said the person is in isolation and staff are using protective equipment until the test results are in – likely within the next 24 hours.
The network is comprised of Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto General Hospital, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and Toronto Rehabilitation Institute.
WATCH: Is there an Ebola risk in Canada?
UHN spokesperson Alexandra Radkewycz said in an email all the hospitals’ emergency departments have Viral Disease Infection Prevention and Control Measures in place.
READ MORE: Canada prepping for potential Ebola cases
“It is very unlikely that the patient has Ebola but a test has been ordered as a precaution,” Howard wrote in an email. “Ebola is one of several diagnoses being considered at this point.”
The announcement comes two days after a patient in Dallas, Tx., was diagnosed with the U.S. first case of Ebola. Health officials there say the patient may have had contact with up to 100 people.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization’s released its latest figures regarding the Ebola outbreak: At least 7,178 people have been infected with the virus; nearly 3,338 have died.
Comments