TODAY COLOMBIA — Following panic of a possibLE case of Ebola in Cali, the deputy health minister, Fernando Ruiz and the director of the National Institute of Health (NIH), Fernando de la Hoz, clarified that no patient with disease is in Colombia.
“There is no such case. It was not positive, the patient is a Colombian citizen who arrived on October 6 to country and since Monday developed symptoms of fever, abdominal pain and diarrhea,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz explained that the person arrived from Equatorial Guinea, which is not part of the countries with active transmission of Ebola, therefore, did warrant evaluation.
However, Clínica Saludcoop del barrio Champagna, in Cali, did run tests and hospitalized the 38 year old man who had spent three months in Africa. Yesterday (Tuesday) his condition had substantially improved and may be discharged tomorrow (Thursday).
The deputy minister said the patient was hospitalized Monday afternoon, and the hospital was connected to the Centro Nacional de Enlace, monitoring the situation.
“We confirmed that the patient did not travel outside of Equatorial Guinea, had no contact with anyone sick, did not know anyone from the three countries affected, did not eat exotic meats, had not been in contact with organs or animal guts, did not have sex with infected people, therefore, the person has no epidemiological link,” said the director epidemiology Ospina Martha Lucia Martinez.
Ospina added that there is a classification of alarms against the disease, the first phase is called “observation”, the first ‘filter’ where questions are asked.
First, have you been to Sierra Leona, Guinea and Liberia in the first three months? The other question is someone close to you has been in those countries?
“The patient in Cali did not answer yes to the first or second,” Ospina said.
Hoz said that while Colombia has people certified to take samples from patients, which are done under biosafety protocols, the samples are properly packaged and shipped to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.
Sources:
- El Pais: Ministerio de salud descarta caso sospechoso del virus del ébola en Cali
- El Tiempo: Caso de Cali nunca clasificó como sospechoso para ébola: Minsalud
