Aug 20, 2014, 10:23 AM ET
American hospitals and state labs have handled at least 68 Ebola scares over the last three weeks, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Hospitals in 27 states alerted the CDC of the possible Ebola cases out
of an abundance of caution amid the growing outbreak in Guinea, Liberia
and Sierra Leone. Fifty-eight cases were deemed false alarms after CDC
officials spoke with medical professions about patient exposures and
symptoms, but blood samples for the remaining 10 were sent to the CDC
for testing, the agency told ABC News today.
Seven of the samples tested negative for the virus and results for the remaining three are pending, the agency said.
Once a hospital or state lab notifies the CDC of a possible Ebola case
based on travel history and symptoms, CDC officials talk to someone
familiar with the suspected patient’s history to determine whether blood
testing for the virus is necessary, said CDC spokeswoman Kristen
Nordlund. They discuss symptoms and determine whether the patient may
have been exposed to the virus. Exposure can happen if the patient is a
health care worker, has buried someone with Ebola, has lived in a house
with someone who had Ebola or has lived in a place where Ebola is
spreading.
“If somebody had traveled to Guinea and came back and had a fever and
has never been to a place where Ebola is transmitted, there’s no reason
to suspect there’s Ebola just because Ebola is circulating in Guinea,”
Nordlund said, explaining that the CDC takes suspected cases seriously
but has to narrow them down.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/us-hospitals-68-ebola-scares-cdc/story?id=25039023
