Ebola outbreak feared in Sweden as patient develops similar symptoms

A possible outbreak of deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is feared in Sweden as a patient was rushed to Skane University Hospital in Lund, near Malmo, on October 8, due to symptoms similar to the disease. Reportedly, the patient has been kept in isolation and Ebola can not be ruled till final reports arrive. The exact date and time of the final report have not been disclosed yet. 

Read: 2nd Ebola Vaccine To Be Used In Congo, As UN Efforts Slammed

Cover-up by Tanzania

Last month, the World Health Organisation (WHO) raised questions on the Tanzania government and feared a cover-up of Ebola cases. The WHO, in a statement, said that the government refused to share the results of a number of patients with Ebola-like symptoms even after several requests. The United States had also asked for transparency in death cases in Tanzania which was suspected as cases of Ebola virus. 

Read: WHO: Tanzania Refuses To Share Information On Its Cases Of Ebola

Outbreak in Congo

In July, the WHO had declared an international health emergency after a case of the deadly virus was confirmed in Congo. It was the fifth such declaration in the history after the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the emergence of Zika and the swine flu pandemic and polio. Many people had felt that the declaration was long overdue. “This essentially serves as a call to the international community that they have to step up appropriate financial and technical support,” said Alexandra Phelan, a global health expert at Georgetown University Law Center.

Read: Congo Police Detain Ex-health Minister Oly Ilunga In Ebola Funds Probe

Symptoms and cause

Symptoms of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) fever, severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, fatigue, diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach pain and unexplained haemorrhage (bleeding or bruising). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, scientists think the virus was at first present in fruit bat or nonhuman primate which later transmitted to humans as a spillover. It can transmit through blood or body fluids of a person infected with EVD. It can be transmitted to a person only after the carrier develops signs and symptoms of the Ebola virus. The symptoms might be visible from 2 to 21 days after contact with the Ebola virus, with an average of 8 to 10 days.

Read: Ebola Outbreak In Congo Declared A Global Health Emergency

(With Inputs from Agencies)