1st LD Writethru: Suspected Ebola patient tests negative in Japan
Xinhua, March 16, 2015 Adjust font size:
A non-Japanese national who returned from Liberia has tested negative for the Ebola virus after developing a fever Sunday night, the Japanese Health Ministry said Monday.
The man, in his 40s, is not a health worker and said he did not have contact with any Ebola patients in the West African country, local report quoted the ministry as reporting.
The man was tested positive for malaria and negative for influenza in tests conducted after being admitted to a hospital in Tokyo for developing a fever above 38 degrees Celsius Sunday evening.
The Tokyo resident returned to Japan on March 4 from Liberia, where he stayed from last summer to March 2.
The latest patient is the sixth case of suspected Ebola infection in Japan. All of them have tested negative.
The death toll from the outbreak of the fatal infectious disease in West Africa, particularly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, topped 10,000 as of last week, while the number of people infected increased to 24,350, the World Health Organization said last Thursday. Endi