South Florida Ebola Scare Unfounded

For the second time in recent days, a person hospitalized in Florida with Ebola-like symptoms has wound up not having the potentially fatal virus.

The latest case comes out of the Miami area where a teen from West Africa was hospitalized over the weekend. The initial screening for Ebola was negative, the Miami Herald reported, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevent will perform a final test just to be sure.

Hazardous materials teams were called into Jackson Memorial Hospital Sunday after the teen came in with symptoms similar to the flu, the Herald reported. The boy was first taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center, but was transferred to Jackson. News of the negative test broke Monday.

The Miami case is the second of its kind in recent days. Sarasota also had a patient with Ebola-like symptoms. In both cases, the likelihood of Ebola was quite low, but precautions were taken just in case.

While Florida has dodged a few bullets, the state is making preparations should the Ebola virus truly present here. Gov. Rick Scott met with the state officials in Tampa Saturday, including Florida Surgeon General John Armstrong, Emergency Management Director Bryan Koon and Health Care Administration Secretary Elizabeth Dudek to review the state’s plan for handling the disease should a case be confirmed.

“While we have no confirmed cases of Ebola in Florida, and we hope we never do, we are continuing to prepare by working with healthcare providers across the state and the CDC to ensure every precaution is taken to protect our citizens and our visitors,” Scott was quoted by The Florida Times-Union as saying.

Ebola is a virus that’s spread through close contact with bodily fluids. It presents with a fever, headache, muscle pain, vomiting and diarrhea. Patients may also suffer unexplained hemorrhaging, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Often deadly, the virus has claimed thousands of lives in an ongoing West African outbreak.

The first travel-associated case of Ebola diagnosed in the United States was announced by the CDC on Sept. 30, giving rise to concerns about the virus across the country.

Photo Credit: The Ebola virus/U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention