Israeli released from hospital after Ebola scare
Clinic placed on lockdown, trapping dozens of patients, after man who was recently in Nigeria displays symptoms of virus
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleMarissa Newman is The Times of Israel political correspondent.
An Israeli recently returned from Nigeria was quarantined and later released from a Kfar Saba hospital Monday, after medical officials suspected he was carrying the Ebola virus.
The man had arrived at a clinic displaying symptoms similar to those exhibited by Ebola patients. Once he was examined, the clinic went on lockdown, barring the dozens of patients present from leaving for hours, according to the Ynet news website.
The patient was transferred to a quarantine in the Meir Medical Center and after undergoing tests that determined he was not carrying the deadly virus, was discharged, the Hebrew NRG news website reported.
The incident occurred after a Nigerian woman was placed in quarantine Friday after arriving in Israel with high fever, amid what proved to be empty fears she was infected by the deadly strain. Doctors at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center on Sunday said she was suffering from an infection of the digestive tract, Israel Radio reported.
The Ebola epidemic, which emerged in Guinea at the start of the year before spreading to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, is the worst outbreak since the hemorrhagic fever was first identified in 1976. More than 3,000 people appear to have been infected, and 1,552 have died, according to the latest World Health Organization figures.
Last month, the Foreign Ministry published a warning urging Israelis against travel to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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