Health officials at weekend responded quickly to infection scares

Health officials in the Czech Republic at the weekend were alerted to suspected cases of Ebola, one in Karlovy Vary, the other in Prague. Both scares proved unfounded. The police and health officials were alerted to the presence of a student from Ghana with reported cold symptoms who failed to wait for health clearance at Prague’s international airport; he was stopped at the main railway station, which was partially closed off before he was transferred to hospital. Ghana is not among the countries hit by the Ebola outbreak; shortly afterwards the man was released. The woman in Karlovy Vary was transferred in a special bio transport bag to Bulovka Hospital in Prague equipped to handle infectious diseases. She was reportedly in Nigeria in August, but Ebola has an incubation period of up to around 21 days; she too was cleared. The country earlier saw two others hospitalized for possible infection; both tested negative for the deadly disease.

Author: Jan Velinger