A suspected Ebola patient is currently being quarantined in an Austrian hospital after displaying symptoms consistent with the deadly virus. The Austrian health ministry confirmed that the individual had recently returned from Uganda before exhibiting warning signs of the Bundibugyo strain, which has a fatality rate of up to 50 per cent among those infected.
Details of the Case
In an official statement, the ministry reported: 'Yesterday, a person from the Urfahr-Umgebung district was admitted to the hospital for inpatient evaluation due to symptoms of illness. Since the person returned from Uganda on Monday—a country currently affected by the ongoing Ebola outbreak—they were isolated and treated in accordance with medical guidelines.' This development comes amid growing concerns over the spread of the virus.
WHO Warning
The World Health Organisation's director-general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has warned that the outbreak is spreading faster than containment efforts can manage, sparking fears of a deepening global health crisis. In recent weeks, there have been over 1,000 cases and 220 deaths from Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Central Africa.
Addressing the African Union earlier this week, Dr Tedros stated: 'We are urgently scaling up operations, but at the moment the epidemic is outpacing us.' Health workers in affected regions, such as Mongbwalu in Ituri Province, DRC, are being sprayed with disinfectant as a precautionary measure.
This is a breaking news story. Further updates will follow as more information becomes available.
