Suspected cases of Ebola are leaving Africa. This Sunday, authorities have reported a suspected case in Italy and two in Brazil, although the one in Italy ultimately tested negative.
As reported by Corriere della Sera, an alarm was raised in Cagliari regarding a possible case of Ebola in a person returning from the Congo who has symptoms compatible with the virus. Following the alert, protocols were activated to transport the patient from their home to the hospital.
Meanwhile, in the case of Brazil, Brazilian health authorities have announced that two men with symptoms compatible with Ebola are in preventive isolation in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, at a time when there is concern about the spread of a deadly outbreak of the virus in Central Africa.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared an international public health emergency on May 17, its second-highest alert level, in response to an outbreak of a rare strain of Ebola affecting the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighboring Uganda.
In Sao Paulo, a 37-year-old man who was in the DRC “presented symptoms such as fever, meeting the definition of a suspected case” of Ebola, the Sao Paulo government said in a note, without specifying the date of the subject’s entry into Brazilian territory.
More Read
We recommend reading: WHO: lack of funds and conflict in the DR Congo hinder the response to Ebola
The patient is admitted “in isolation” at the Emílio Ribas Institute of Infectious Diseases, while experts conduct investigations, he noted.
The man tested positive for a severe case of meningitis, but “the investigation for Ebola remains ongoing until the conclusion of specific tests,” said Rigiane de Paula, from the state’s disease control coordination, cited in the note.
More Read
In Rio de Janeiro, the state health secretariat also announced that a man from Uganda is in isolation, who entered Brazil on May 22, after presenting “viral symptoms such as cough, chills, and diarrhea”.
Rio’s city hall said in an email sent to AFP that the patient tested positive for malaria and “the case remains under investigation”.
The authorities of Sao Paulo indicated that “the technical assessment indicates that the risk of introduction of the disease in Brazil and South America remains very low”.
There have been more than 1,000 suspected cases of Ebola in the DRC since the outbreak was declared in the country on May 15, including nearly 250 deaths, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the African Union (AU) health agency, reported on Thursday.
Uganda confirmed two new cases of this highly contagious hemorrhagic fever on Friday, bringing the total to nine, including one fatality, since May 15.
The strain of the virus responsible for the current outbreak is called Bundibugyo. There is neither a vaccine nor a specific treatment for this variant.
The virus is transmitted between people through bodily fluids or exposure to the blood of those infected, who are only contagious once they show symptoms. The incubation period can last up to 21 days.
