A young man who recently had traveled in an Ebola-hit African
country was placed in medical isolation in Stockholm after
developing a high fever Sunday evening, local media reported.
"Yes, we have a suspected [Ebola] case, but it's not confirmed,"
a spokeswoman for Stockholm's County Council told The Wall Street
Journal.
A communicable diseases specialist tasked with providing more
detailed information about the case wasn't immediately available
for comment.
Swedish media reported the unidentified man had developed high
fever and stomach pains and sought medical care at a local health
clinic.
At the clinic the man said he recently had been traveling in one
of the West African countries affected by an outbreak of the Ebola
virus. The man then was transferred to an isolation unit at the
Karolinska University Hospital.
"The risk that this is an Ebola case is minimal, but we are
handling this with extreme care," communicable disease specialist
Ake Ortqvist told the newspaper Aftonbladet. Dr. Ortqvist added
that the probability for an Ebola outbreak in Sweden is very
low.
Medical staff have taken a blood sample from the patient. The
sample will be tested for Ebola by Sweden's Public Health Agency.
Results are expected by Monday evening.
More than 1,500 people have died from the Ebola virus in the
four affected countries of Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra
Leone with more than 3,000 probable and confirmed cases of the
disease, the World Health Organization said Thursday.
Suspected Ebola cases have been reported in Europe in the recent
weeks. However, after examination by medical authorities the
suspected cases have turned out to be false alarms.
A Spanish priest died of Ebola in a hospital in Spain in
mid-August shortly after he was airlifted from Liberia to Spain for
treatment.
Write to Juhana Rossi at juhana.rossi@wsj.com
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