MOSCOW, August 10 (RIA Novosti) - A Romanian man showing symptoms of possible Ebola virus upon his return from Nigeria has been hospitalized in Bucharest, Romania's Health Ministry announced Sunday.
"This morning, a 51-year-old adult displaying symptoms of fever, nausea, vomiting and bloody diarrhea was admitted to the Emergency Care Unit of the Ploiesti County Hospital," the Ministry said in a statement, as quoted by the national news agency Agerpess.
"Given that the anamnesis revealed the patient has recently returned from Nigeria, the procedure for the patient's isolation and transfer in special safety conditions to Prof. Dr. Matei Bals Institute of Infectious Diseases was initiated. At this moment, the patient is suspected of viral infection, but the etiological diagnosis is not known yet," the ministry said.
Ebola symptoms resemble those of flu, and include fever, weakness, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, and bleeding.
Two patients showing similar symptoms after trips to the African countries with reported Ebola cases were quarantined in Canada and Germany over the weekend but both tested negative for the deadly virus on Sunday.
On Friday, the World Health Organization announced the virus outbreak an emergency situation of international importance. Nigeria, the latest country to be affected with seven Ebola cases and two deaths, declared a state of emergency the same day. It was the third country to announce emergency situation after Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The virus has killed 961 people as of August 6, and the number of infected stands at 1,779 infected, according to WHO. The virus has killed four people in Guinea, where the outbreak originated, 12 in Sierra Leone and 12 in Liberia.
There is no licensed treatment or vaccine for the Ebola virus, which has a case fatality rate of up to 90 percent. Medical workers use rehydration fluid and antibiotics to fight infections. Some groups have called for new drugs to be rolled out in Africa after two US aid workers infected with the virus responded positively to an experimental treatment known as Zmapp.
