Ebola Precautions Being Taken for Patient at Freehold Hospital

By Feroze Dhanoa

One person is currently being held in isolation at CentraState Medical Center after experiencing flu-like symptoms. The patient just returned from West Africa where concerns about the Ebola outbreak are extremely high.

The patient has not been identified and has had no known contact with the virus or travelled to a specific country where the outbreak is centered, according to health officials.

“This patient is experiencing mild symptoms and has improved since last night, making the patient more likely to be experiencing any of a myriad of other common illnesses,” the state’s Department of Health said in a statement. “The patient remains in isolation as a precaution and under evaluation as further tests are administered.”

The patient was brought to the hospital Monday via ambulance and taken to an isolation room designed for the treatment of infectious diseases, the hospital said in a statement.

Both the state’s Department of Health and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention determined that the patient had no known exposure to the virus.

Health care providers are required to report to the local health department anyone who may have travelled to West Africa within the last three weeks and is experiencing signs and symptoms of the disease such as fever, headache, diarrhea, vomiting, aches, weakness and lack of appetite.

Ebola is spread through close contact with the blood or fluids of someone who is infected with the virus and is not an airborne disease.

More information on the virus can be found online on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.

Photo Credit: Center for Disease Control and Prevention via Getty Images