A King County man who developed possible Ebola symptoms after his trip to Mali has tested negative for the deadly virus. Health officials have sent him home with continued monitoring. He was declared free of the virus and went home Sunday evening, local health officials confirmed.
The man, 52 years old, spent Saturday night in isolation at the Harborview Center after manifesting low-grade fever, sore throat and a recent travel to an Ebola-ravaged country. However, the test conducted has shown that no sign of infection in his body.
Ebola Virus Disease is a potentially deadly condition that has ravaged West Africa since March infecting nearly 17,000 people and killing more than 6,000 in just eight months. There is still no known treatment and the development for the vaccine is still under process.
According to Susan Gregg, spokesperson for Harborview Hospital said in an email, "He is being discharged this evening with continued monitoring by public health."
However, they are planning to do more testing on Monday but these tests were now dubbed as unnecessary because the patient's condition is improving which is unlikely for someone who has Ebola according to Dr. Jeff Duchin, chief of communicable disease and epidemiology for Public Health. The patient was monitored for one day and they are now confident that one test is enough.
The man was the first to try the live trial of Washington state systems and equipment that aims to detect and stop the spread of Ebola. The health officials said that they are satisfied with the results of the testing.
The man went to Mali to visit his son for three weeks and upon arrival, he had fever that goes beyond the CDC threshold which needs prompt intervention and further evaluation. Dr. Tim Dellit, associate medical director at the hospital, said that the drills for ebola that were conducted for weeks were worth it. "The staff was phenomenal. I'm very proud of our team here," Dellit said.