editor@insideuab.com
On Tuesday, August 4, a patient checked into the UAB ER with "Ebola-like" symptons.At 8:34 p.m. last night, news broke that police had taped off the area around the University of Alabama-Birmingham’s Emergency Room and a decontamination unit was on the scene due to a patient who could possibly have Ebola.
Jamie Ostroff from WIAT 42 News reported from Twitter at 9:19 p.m. that that the Birmingham Police confirmed that a patient with “Ebola-like” symptoms was being treated at the UAB hospital.
After police confirmation, Dr. Edward Khan, M.D. of the Jefferson County Health Department spoke at a press conference outside of the ER clearing up some of the panic beginning to form on the internet. “A person who returned to this country from an area of concern was exhibiting [Ebola] symptoms,” he said. “UAB had been monitoring them. Today the symptoms worsened and the person checked themselves into the ER,” he said to reporters.
Khan later told reporters that the patient was low-risk but had came from one of the three African countries heavily affected by the disease: Guinea, Sierra Leon and Liberia. If anyone returning to the U.S. from these three countries develops Ebola-like symptoms within 21 days of their return, they are admitted to a hospital for evaluation.
This morning, AL.com reported that authorities confirmed that the patient tested negative for the Ebola virus. At this time, officials say the patient has been diagnosed with another illness. “The patient is improving and has evidence of an illness other than Ebola that can account for symptoms,” the Alabama Department of Public Health said in a press release today. The department said that four other individuals in Alabama are currently being tracked for Ebola as well.
