Fears over the deadly Ebola virus reached California Tuesday, as an individual in Sacramento evidently became the first patient in the state to be tested for the lethal disease.
The individual, who is being held in an isolation unit at a Kaiser medical center, had recently returned from West Africa and began experiencing symptoms. Blood samples were promptly drawn and shipped to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia which is expected to confirm the results within the next few days.
“Californians travel to all parts of the world, so we were not surprised to find a possible case here,” said California Department of Public Health epidemiologist Gil Chavez. “We knew it was a matter of time before we had a case in California.”
City officials, meanwhile, said they were not notified of the possible exposure. “Not in a public setting and I have not had any discussion with anybody about that issue,” said District 2 Council Member Allen Warren.
“We work with the county on that,” Vice Mayor Jay Schenirer added. “So, if there was something going on and the county wanted us to know, we would be following their lead.”
Health officials believe the patient to be “low-risk.” While the virus is infamous for its high fatality rate of up to 90%, it is not easily contracted. Transmission occurs through direct contact with infected tissue, blood, or bodily fluids. Those who have been potentially exposed by the patient in Sacramento have already been informed.
West Africa has been ravaged by the Ebola epidemic, which first hit in December of 2013. The latest figures from the World Health Organization put the death toll at 1,350. The majority of the cases have been in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, with several deaths also confirmed in Nigeria.
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