By Glynn Cosker
Editor, In Homeland Security
A man who returned from West Africa 10 days ago underwent testing for the Ebola virus in a New York hospital Thursday.
The Doctors Without Borders worker came down with a fever and abdominal pains—often the first two Ebola symptoms to appear. He was rushed from his Manhattan apartment to Bellevue Hospital and placed into an isolation ward. Results of his Ebola virus testing are expected late Thursday.
According to The New York Times, the man felt “sluggish” Tuesday and subsequently spiked a fever of 103 degrees Thursday. He returned from Ebola-stricken Guinea Oct. 14.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is at the hospital pending the preliminary test results.
“We’re aware of the case and we’re working with the New York City health department,” said CDC representative Tom Skinner in a statement. “We’re consulting with them as they assess the case and any plan to test the patient will be announced by the New York authorities.”
To alleviate the obvious concerns about the possibility of a person with Ebola in the most populous city in the country, New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene said in a statement: “The chances of the average New Yorker contracting Ebola are extremely slim. Ebola is spread by directly touching the bodily fluids of an infected person. You cannot be infected simply by being near someone who has Ebola.”
Doctors Without Borders released a statement saying, “As per the specific guidelines that Doctors Without Borders provides its staff on their return from Ebola assignments, the individual engaged in regular health monitoring and reported this development immediately.”
The CDC said Wednesday that anybody arriving in the U.S. from Guinea (as well as Liberia or Sierra Leone), is subject to a 21-day monitoring period. The New York City patient is one of about 50 people tested for the Ebola virus in recent weeks.
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