German medical student tested for ebola in Rwanda
Rwanda has placed a German student with Ebola-like symptoms in isolation, and was waiting for test results checking for the deadly tropical disease, the health ministry said late Sunday.
“Samples from the suspected case have been sent for testing to an international accredited laboratory for approval, results will be available in 48 hours,” the health ministry said in a statement.
The patient is the first to be tested in Rwanda since the outbreak in west Africa.
Minister of Health Agnes Binagwaho said the patient was a German medical student, who had recently spent time in Liberia. He had a fever and malaria but for “100 percent security” Rwanda had quarantined him, until test results – expected within two days – were back, she said.
Food shortages in West Africa
PHOTO: AFP
On Sunday, a football team in Ivory Coast carried signs calling for awareness about the ebola outbreak in Africa.
Players of the FC Gberedou Abobo football team (above) carried placards with messages like 'Stop ebola in Africa' and 'All together against ebola fever!' prior to their match in the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan.
West Africa has been feeling the knock-on effects of the battle against the outbreak, as unprecedented restrictions cause food shortages, transport snarls and soaring prices, sparking fears people could die of hunger.
Under Sierra Leone's Operation Octopus, some 1,500 soldiers and police have been deployed to enforce quarantines, turning people away at checkpoints and accompanying health workers searching for people who may have contracted the virus. Only essential officials and food items are being allowed in after intensive searches, said a deputy police chief.
Ivory Coast, which sits next to Liberia, one of the hardest hit countries in the ongoing outbreak, announced Monday that it has banned all flights from countries hit by the deadly Ebola virus.
The government said in a statement that it has banned all carriers from transporting passengers from these countries.
It has also suspended flights by its national airline to and from these locations.
Source: AFP
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