Rwanda testing possible Ebola case
Five health workers, dressed in head-to-toe "Ebola suits", leave in a pick-up truck in Uige, about 300km north of the Angolan capital, Luanda, on April 9, 2005, to pick up a man dying from haemorrhagic fever. The Ebola virus has been identified as the source of an outbreak of haemorrhagic fever. AFP PHOTO | FLORENCE PANOUSSIAN
What you need to know:
- The patient is the first to be tested in Rwanda since the outbreak in West Africa.
- Minister of Health Agnes Binagwaho said the patient is a German medical student, who had recently spent time in Liberia.
- Ebola has claimed nearly 1,000 lives in west Africa in the worst outbreak in four decades.
KIGALI
Rwanda has placed a German student with Ebola-like symptoms in isolation, and is waiting for test results checking for the deadly tropical disease, the health ministry said.
"Samples from the suspected case have been sent for testing to an international accredited laboratory for approval, results will be available in 48 hours," the health ministry said in a statement.
The patient is the first to be tested in Rwanda since the outbreak in west Africa.
Minister of Health Agnes Binagwaho said the patient is a German medical student, who had recently spent time in Liberia.
WORST OUTBREAK
Ms Binagwaho said the patient had a fever and malaria symptoms but for "100 per cent security", they have quarantined him until test results — expected within two days — are back.
Ebola has claimed nearly 1,000 lives in west Africa in the worst outbreak in four decades, prompting the World Health Organisation last week to declare the epidemic a global health emergency.
Like other nations across east Africa, Rwanda said it had put in place measures against the deadly virus.
"Surveillance systems and emergency management systems have been established," the health ministry said.
"Health workers have been trained across the country and are vigilant."
