Wednesday 25 February 2015

Kennedy Airport passenger has Ebola symptoms, say authorities


A Kennedy Airport passenger who arrived Tuesday from Sierra Leone with Ebola-like symptoms was taken late at night to a Manhattan hospital, authorities said.
The passenger had fever and upper respiratory problems and was being evaluated as a precaution at Bellevue Hospital Center to determine whether tests for the deadly disease should be administered, said Ian Michaels, spokesman for the New York City Health and Hospitals Corp., which operates Bellevue.
Sierra Leone is one of the West African countries at the epicenter of the Ebola epidemic, and New York City health officials have interviewed the patient, authorities said.
"The patient had no known Ebola exposure," said the corporation's statement.

Michaels declined to give the gender or other patient details. As of 2 a.m. Wednesday, doctors were continuing to evaluate the patient and had not decided whether the Ebola test should be given, the spokesman said. Other details were not immediately available.
In the early stages of the disease, the result may be negative, said Michaels, and in that case, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will administer a second test.
Bellevue successfully treated Ebola-stricken Dr. Craig Spencer for nearly three weeks after he was diagnosed Oct. 23, days after returning from treating Ebola  patients in Guinea with Doctors Without Borders.
Ebola has killed thousands in West Africa and stricken many more since it broke out in the region last year. It can cause unexplained bleeding, abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting.
Details on what flight the passenger had been on, and the time it arrived, were not immediately available Tuesday night. A Port Authority spokesman could not be reached Tuesday night.
ELLEN YAN  newsday 

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