Suspected Ebola case in Australia - experts respond
A 25 year old Australian man, who has recently returned from a visit to the Ebola-affected Congo, has been admitted to a
Gold Coast hospital after experiencing Ebola-like symptoms.
It has not yet been established whether the man actually has the deadly virus.
Our colleagues at the Australian Science Media Centre have rounded up the following expert reaction to the news.
Feel free to use these quotes in your stories. Further comments will be posted on the AusSMC website as they are received. If you would like to speak to a New Zealand expert, please don't hesitate to contact us on (04)
499 5476 or by email.
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Dr Grant Hill-Cawthorne is from the Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity at the University of
Sydney.
"Any patient suffering from a fever and who has returned from a region affected by Ebola within the last 21 days should
be investigated. Affected regions now include those in the large West Africa outbreak (Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone,
Senegal and Nigeria) and the Democratic Republic of Congo which has a separate outbreak. At present we do not know what
this gentleman's risk is - whether he has come into contact with bodily fluids or handled clinical specimens from a
patient with Ebola, or whether he has additional symptoms of Ebola such as marked vomiting, diarrhoea, bruising or
bleeding.
"The Queensland public health authorities are following national guidelines and isolating the patient as a precaution.
While we have little information to go on, there are a number of infections that could present in a similar way to
Ebola, including malaria. Therefore all diagnostic avenues are likely to be explored while precautions such as isolation
are observed. The risk to other patients and hospital staff in Australian hospitals is very low due to the good
infection control practices that will be carried out."
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Associate Professor Sanjaya Senanayake is a practising infectious diseases physician at the Australian National
University Medical School.
"A man in his twenties has been taken to a hospital in the Gold Coast with paramedics apparently alerting the hospital
of the possibility of Ebola virus infection prior to his arrival. He has returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC) where an Ebola virus outbreak, separate to the large West African outbreak, is occurring. However, at this stage,
it is unknown if the young man actually has Ebola virus infection. The outbreak in the DRC appears to be in a remote
area and is being successfully contained according to reports. So he is unlikely to have encountered it if he visited
large urban areas of the DRC. Also, the early symptoms of Ebola virus infection are very non-specific. They can be seen
in malaria, influenza and a variety of other infections; therefore, there are a number of other possibilities that
doctors will consider when working him up for this illness.
"In recent weeks, health jurisdictions in Australia have been developing protocols to deal with this exact situation
i.e. the sick returning traveller with possible Ebola virus infection. Even if this isn't Ebola virus infection (which
it hopefully isn't for the young man's sake), this case will give the health service an opportunity to see if the
protocols can be successfully implemented or have steps that still need to be ironed out. Feedback of the outcome of
this by the Gold Coast hospital to other health jurisdictions is important so everyone can tighten their protocols in
the event of another case appearing on our shores.
"But once again, this case highlights how easy it is for someone with a contagious infection to get on a plane and
travel halfway across the globe. It is important that nations outside the Ebola-affected regions have rigourous measures
in place to deal with such a scenario."