Doctors are performing tests on the body of a man who died in County Donegal, Ireland, after developing Ebola-like symptoms, the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) has said.
The body of the man, who was believed to be in his 40s, is being held in isolation at Letterkenny General Hospital, and no other cases have been reported.
The man recently returned from Sierra Leone, where it is possible that he contracted the virus.
In a statement, the HSE said:
“The public health department was made aware earlier (on Thursday) of the remains of an individual, discovered early this morning, who had recently travelled to one of the areas in Africa affected by the current Ebola virus disease outbreak.
“The appropriate national guidelines, in line with international best practice, are being followed by the public health team dealing with the situation.”
Dr. Darina O’Flanagan, Head of the HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre, said:
“In general, the risk of contracting Ebola virus disease is extremely low and would involve very close personal contact with the infected individual or their body fluids for there to be any risk at all.
“We await the outcome of the laboratory tests before we will know whether or not this individual had contracted Ebola virus disease. The appropriate public health guidelines are being followed at every stage in this process as a precaution.”
