Wednesday, 24 September 2014 - 13:22
Dutch patients do not have ebola: health officials
The two patients who have been in the hospital these past days on suspicion that they may have Ebola, are not infected with the virus.
This was confirmed by the results of specific tests. Both the patients have malaria, another tropical infectious disease, and they are receiving treatment.
The one patient, a recently returned rescue worker, developed symptoms and was admitted into LUMC on September 20th. There malaria was diagnosed. Specific tests were done to ensure that the patient does not have Ebola as well as malaria. The results were negative for Ebola. The patient will still be followed by the GGD until the end of the incubation period.
The other patient was admitted to Radboudumc on September 22nd on request of his doctor. This patient recently visited an Ebola infected area and developed symptoms. The medical staff of Radboudumc diagnosed this patient with malaria. Because the man had been sick for longer, specific tests could exclude the Ebola virus immediately.