The city says that it decided to test for Ebola based on his “recent travel history, pattern of symptoms and past work.” He'll also be evaluated for salmonella, malaria and the stomach flu, which have similar symptoms. The health department already has deployed disease detectives to track down the patient's recent contacts, in case test results come back positive.
Preliminary test results to be available within the next few hours, said New York Mayor Bill de Blasio at a press conference. He added that the doctor has exhibited symptoms for a “very brief period of time.”
If the man does have Ebola, he will be ninth Ebola case in the U.S.—four of whom have been health workers who returned after humanitarian work in West Africa.
In Chicago, a child and a mother were being evaluated for possible cases of Ebola after becoming ill on flights into O'Hare from Liberia. The child, who is being treated at the University of Chicago Medical Center, showed clinical improvements after arriving at the hospital, health officials said in a statement Tuesday. The child had a normal temperature and no symptoms of Ebola other than initial vomiting on a flight from Liberia. The adult, who was being evaluated at Rush University Medical Center, also showed improvements and no signs or symptoms of Ebola. Test results were not yet announced as of Thursday. Another ill traveler from Liberia who flew into Newark showed no symptoms of the disease as of late Wednesday, NJ.com reported.
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