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Possible Ebola patient admitted to California hospital

Thursday, 29 January 2015 8:37 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 29 January 2015 8:37 PM ]

A patient, who has “symptoms consistent with Ebola infection”, was admitted to a US hospital.

A patient with a suspected case of Ebola was admitted to a hospital in the US state of California on Thursday, officials say.

The patient, who has “symptoms consistent with Ebola infection”, was admitted to the University of California, Davis, Medical Center in Sacramento, the hospital said in a statement.

The individual was transferred Thursday morning from Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento to UC Davis Medical Center, the statement added giving no further information about the case.

“In coordination with the public health department and CDC, Dignity Health Mercy General Hospital has transferred a patient to UC Davis Medical Center, which is specifically equipped to care for patients suspected of having or diagnosed with Ebola as part of the public health department’s preparedness plan.”

At Mercy General, yellow “caution” tape was placed outside the emergency area with a security guard standing there, according to FOX40.

UC Davis Medical Center, however, continues to operate as normal and it will remain open while a team works to treat the patient, officials say.

In October, 2014, hospitals in the United States were beginning to experience a public panic over the Ebola virus infection.

Thomas Eric Duncan became the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the US on Sept. 30 after which a mounting fear over a possible Ebola outbreak in the homeland had worried the American public.

Two of the nurses who treated Duncan in Dallas, Texas hospital were diagnosed with the disease, as several hundred people in potential contact with the two nurses were also tracked. Duncan was returning home from an Ebola infested Liberia.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Ebola outbreak has killed about 4,500 people, with the large majority of victims in West Africa -- Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that as many as 1.4 million people could be infected by the virus.

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