A Mt. Sinai patient suspected to be infected with Ebola has been tested negative for the deadly disease, hospital authorities announced Wednesday afternoon, Daily News reported.
"We would like to report that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have determined that the patient kept in isolation since Monday, August 4, 2014 at The Mount Sinai Hospital has tested negative for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). The patient is in stable condition, is improving, and remains in the care of our physicians and nurses," the facility said in a statement.
The unnamed patient caused a stir in Manhattan when he went to the Mt. Sinai hospital emergency room after manifesting Ebola-like symptoms that include high fever and gastrointestinal problems on Monday, according to Business Insider. The fact that he had just returned from a recent trip to West Africa - where the disease is said to be currently rampant - reportedly prompted the Mt. Sinai hospital staff to test for the lethal illness.
Other symptoms of the disease include fever, vomiting, diarrhea and usually bleeding. Although such indications are also present in malaria, typhoid fever and gastrointestinal virus.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization reportedly met to decide whether or not to implement a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). To consider Ebola as a PHEIC means there is a possibility it would spread worldwide which would probably require a "coordinated international response."
Two U.S. Citizens who were infected with Ebola while they were in Liberia are currently being treated with an experimental drug called ZMapp. It is the first time for the drug to be administered on a human as it had only been previously used on primates. However, it seemed that ZMApp may be taking its effect on the two patients, as their conditions were reportedly improving, although a full recovery is yet unknown.
According to WHO, the current Ebola outbreak which is said to be centered in West Africa, has already brought 1,711 suspected and confirmed cases and 932 deaths.
New Yorkers can now breath a sigh of relief that the suspected Mt. Sinai Ebola case has been ruled out.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
