Ministry rules out Ebola case in the capital.
Information indicates that the patient admitted to the Hospital of Tropical Diseases (HDT) on Friday afternoon (August 1st) with suspected infection by the virus may actually have Malaria or a flu-like syndrome; in a statement, the Department of Epidemiological Surveillance of the Municipal Health Secretariat (SMS) of Goiânia also ruled out the suspicion; the secretariat found that the patient does not meet the criteria for suspected cases; the woman reportedly stayed in Mozambique during her trip to Africa - a country where there is no outbreak of the disease - and had not been in contact with sick people.
The Editorial Staff - The Ministry of Health (MS) has ruled out the possibility of a suspected case of Ebola in Goiânia. This information comes from the ministry's press office.
Speaking to the newspaper A Redação, the team reported that the patient admitted to the Hospital of Tropical Diseases (HDT) on the afternoon of this Friday (8/1) with suspected infection by the virus may actually have Malaria or a flu-like syndrome.
Check out the full statement sent earlier this evening by the MS press office:
The Ministry of Health reports that there are no suspected or confirmed cases of Ebola in Brazil, and the risk of transmission to Brazil is considered low. According to official data released by the World Health Organization (WHO), the countries affected by the Ebola virus outbreak are Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, all located in West Africa.
Therefore, it should be clarified that the patient treated at the health service in Goiânia does not meet any criteria for suspicion of this disease.
The Ministry of Health receives daily updates from the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the circulation of viruses worldwide, including Ebola, as well as any other situations that may constitute a public health emergency.
Since Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with blood, secretions, organs, and other bodily fluids of infected people or animals, transmission to other continents is considered unlikely. The WHO does not recommend any measures that restrict trade or the flow of people with affected countries.
In a statement, the Department of Epidemiological Surveillance of the Municipal Health Secretariat (SMS) of Goiânia also ruled out the suspicion.
The case was reported by HDT and investigated by the municipality's Epidemiological Surveillance, following recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health.
According to the statement, the SMS (Municipal Health Secretariat) determined that the patient does not meet the criteria for suspected cases. The woman reportedly stayed in Mozambique during her trip to Africa – a country where there is no outbreak of the disease – and had no contact with sick people.
Epidemic
The WHO identifies as suspected cases people who have traveled through the African countries Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria – affected by the epidemic – with symptoms of hemorrhagic fever and who have had contact with sick people, dead animals and people who died with suspected cases of the disease.
Given this scenario, the Epidemiological Surveillance Department of the Goiânia Municipal Health Secretariat is instructing healthcare professionals in the municipality to immediately report cases of patients with hemorrhagic fever originating from these countries.