KARACHI: A 47-year-old man from Karachi was admitted into the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) on Monday morning on suspicion of contracting the deadly Ebola virus.
Muhammad Haroon arrived in Karachi by Qatar Airways from Monrovia, the capital of Liberia – one of the West African countries that have been hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak.
“The blood samples of the man will be sent abroad through the National Institute of Health in Islamabad and the results will be known in the next 72 hours,” said Dr Seemin Jamali, joint director and in-charge of the emergency department at the JPMC.
“Upon landing at Karachi airport, the suspected patient had mentioned Liberia as the port of embarkation on his health card,” said Dr Jamali, adding that health authorities at the airport checked his temperature with a forehead strip, which was documented as 103 °F.
The airport health authorities transported the patient to the hospital’s Medical ICU’s third floor, which has been designated as the quarantined floor, following a resolution adopted by the Sindh Assembly for taking precautionary measures against the Ebola virus by establishing isolation wards to quarantine Ebola patients.
“The suspected patient, however, appeared to be in good health,” added Dr Jamali.
This is the second suspected case of Ebola virus in the country. Last week, Zulfiquar Ahmed, a 40-year-old man from Chiniot, was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition and had been kept under isolation, with doctors fearing he might have contracted the deadly Ebola virus.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/800043/health-officials-hold-suspected-ebola-patient-at-karachi-airport/
Muhammad Haroon arrived in Karachi by Qatar Airways from Monrovia, the capital of Liberia – one of the West African countries that have been hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak.
“The blood samples of the man will be sent abroad through the National Institute of Health in Islamabad and the results will be known in the next 72 hours,” said Dr Seemin Jamali, joint director and in-charge of the emergency department at the JPMC.
“Upon landing at Karachi airport, the suspected patient had mentioned Liberia as the port of embarkation on his health card,” said Dr Jamali, adding that health authorities at the airport checked his temperature with a forehead strip, which was documented as 103 °F.
The airport health authorities transported the patient to the hospital’s Medical ICU’s third floor, which has been designated as the quarantined floor, following a resolution adopted by the Sindh Assembly for taking precautionary measures against the Ebola virus by establishing isolation wards to quarantine Ebola patients.
“The suspected patient, however, appeared to be in good health,” added Dr Jamali.
This is the second suspected case of Ebola virus in the country. Last week, Zulfiquar Ahmed, a 40-year-old man from Chiniot, was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition and had been kept under isolation, with doctors fearing he might have contracted the deadly Ebola virus.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/800043/health-officials-hold-suspected-ebola-patient-at-karachi-airport/