ID :
339861
Tue, 09/02/2014 - 14:51
Auther :

Guinean Ebola suspect found in Thailand, initial blood tests negative

BANGKOK, September 2 (TNA) - The Ministry of Public Health says that a Guinean woman in Thailand is suspected of contracting the Ebola virus disease (EVD), but her initial blood tests showed negative, meaning the suspect was not infected with the deadly virus. Permanent Secretary for Public Health Dr. Narong Sahametapat told journalists of the information on Tuesday, noting that the 24-year-old Guinean woman had high temperatures after arriving in Thailand on August 20. Dr. Narong acknowledged that the suspected foreigner was being quarantined and treated at a provincial hospital. According to the senior official, his ministry's Department of Medical Sciences and Bangkok-based Chulalongkorn University were assigned to check her blood samples with a final result expected soon. The senior official admitted that 16 Thai and foreign people have been under a close watch for possible EVD infections so far. The senior official, however, advised the general public not to be panic, explaining that an EVD transmission is difficult and possible only through contacts with patients who developed high temperatures and other symptoms, and that the fatal disease exists in patients' body fluid and vomit and light touches would not result in any infection. The permanent secretary for public health insisted that people can live their normal life while following up updated reports on EVD from his ministry. The suspected woman arrived in Thailand from Guinea on August 20, when she first passed a checkup upon her immigration process but she sought a medical treatment at the provincial hospital on September 1 after having a high fever. (TNA)

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