Another Ebola Scare for South Africa


By Oliver Ngwenya    18-Aug-2014 20:47 UTC+02:00
The Ebola virus seems to be getting more real in South Africa. But, says the Health Department, there is none yet. Photo: The Independent

The Ebola virus seems to be getting more real in South Africa. But, says the Health Department, there is none yet.
Photo: The Independent
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Only less than a week after Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi spoke of the arrangements that have been put in place by his department, they have had to be tested. A South African man had to be rushed through the systems after there was suspicion that he may have the deadly virus.

An unidentified thirty-seven year old man of a South African origin was in Liberia where he was working as a health and safety officer in a mining operation. The operation where he was working was the hardest hit by the Ebola epidemic but the man apparently had no contact with the Ebola victims. When he came back home on the sixth of this month, he was routinely scanned as is the norm for all incoming travelers at the OR Tambo International Airport. The scan reavealed that he was in perfect health and that his temperature was normal. However, ten days after his arrival, the man visited his general practitioner as he had a fever.

According to Heath Department spokes person, Joe Maila, the doctor contacted the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) to inform them about the man. He was advised to monitor the patient at home and to repeat the blood tests on Sunday. However, when the fever intensified, it was decided that the man be admitted at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital for more tests and further investigation. He said that as far as the NICD, the patient was a low risk for the Ebola virus but the protocol for communicable diseases had to be followed as a precautionary measure as the country continues to be on high alert for Ebola.

Earlier last month, a Guinea woman who also arrived in South Africa and was suspected to have contracted the disease had to be tested extensively but the tests were negative. She was, however, admitted to Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital as she had been pregnant and was in labour. Minister Motsoaledi said, despite having a high fever, the woman did not have the Ebola virus. He also cautioned at the time that many people arriving in South Africa from Ebola hit countries did not have the virus.


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