Siaya Suspected Ebola patient tests negative

Suspected Ebola patient tests negative
Monday, August 6 2012 at 23:30

A patient, who was admitted to Siaya District Hospital with symptoms similar to those of Ebola, has tested negative.

Nursing Officer Sylvester Ng’anda said the patient, who was treated of thrombocytopenia— a condition that leads to lack of plasma in blood vessels and results in bleeding— was discharged on Monday morning.

“That is the reason why the patient was bleeding from the gums and other openings. We have confirmed he is free from Ebola and there should be no panic,” he said.

On high alert

He denied claims  the patient was treated of venom after he was suspected to have eaten meat from a goat that had been bitten by a snake.

Meanwhile, Tanzania is on high alert as the government investigates two suspected cases of the viral disease in the North Western region, near the border with Uganda.

Deputy Minister for Health Seif Suleiman Rashid on Monday told Xinhua that a team of doctors had been sent to the region to investigate the two cases.

The two patients were admitted to Nyakahanga Hospital in Karagwe District, after they exhibited symptoms of the haemorrhagic fever. Dr Andrew Charles, who is charge of the hospital, told Xinhua on the phone that blood samples of one of the patients, a six-year-old boy, had been sent to Dar es Salaam for tests. Like HIV, Ebola is spread only through contact with infected body fluids. The disease has killed 16 people in Uganda
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Suspected+Ebola+patient+tests+negative+/-/1056/1472740/-/mgk3hl/-/index.html