Two children are being tested for Ebola at an infectious diseases clinic in Newcastle after arriving in the UK from West Africa.
Both children were reported as suffering from symptoms similar to the virus, but it has not been confirmed whether they travelled to an affected country.
The pair are being treated at the Infectious Diseases Isolation Unit at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, with results expected later today.
The Royal Victoria Infirmary is one of four hospitals outside in the country that are set up to care for Ebola patients, and the unit took part in national preparedness drills earlier this year for an outbreak of the deadly disease on UK soil.
In recent comments about the NHS’ ability to manage an Ebola outbreak in the UK, England’s Chief Medical Officer, Dame Sally Davies, said that they “have been expecting a first case and we are well prepared to deal with it.”.
The current Ebola outbreak has killed nearly 5,700 people, mostly in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
