KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 — An African man in Sarawak who triggered fears that the deadly Ebola virus may have arrived in Malaysia is no longer suspected of being infected with the disease, the Health Ministry said today.
Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, the ministry’s director-general, said the patient mentioned in Malay Mail Online’s report today is a 24-year-old Zimbabwean man studying at a private institute of higher learning in Sarawak.
Noor Hisham said the patient started having fever, sore throat and cough on Saturday and was treated for respiratory tract infection at the state’s Kuching General Hospital, adding that he was in a “stable condition”.
He further explained that the patient’s home country is not listed as one with Ebola patients, adding that the 24-year-old did not have any history of international travel or contact with any Ebola sufferers in the 21 days before he showed these symptoms.
“In line with that, after investigations were carried out, for now, this case is not suspected as having [Ebola],” he said in a statement today.
Noor Hisham said the ministry will closely watch for the disease through the National Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC), confirming that no Ebola cases have been discovered in the country.
Malaysia's first suspected Ebola case was reported in Perak last week and later proven to be negative.
According to a news report today by Reuters, the Ebola disease that has spread to five African nations have killed over 2,400 people - with most of them in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
The two other affected countries are Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) closely monitoring for signs of outbreak in other countries.
Ebola symptoms can take between two to 21 days to appear after a patient is exposed to the virus.
The symptoms are wide-ranging and include fever, headache, muscle pain, vomiting, impaired liver and kidney function, as well as internal and external bleeding.
