Paramedics were forced to don protective clothing before transporting a 27-year-old to Gold Coast University Hospital after complaining of ebola-like symptoms, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported.
The man recently arrived back in Australia from the Congo, via Perth. He has not yet been diagnosed with the Ebola virus and Queensland’s chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young has called for calm.
“The community needs to know that there is an extremely low risk of contracting Ebola, regardless of whether this man’s test results come back positive or negative later this evening,” she said.
“Ebola virus disease is not a highly contagious disease like the flu or a cold; it requires direct exposure to an infected person’s bodily fluids such as blood, vomit or faeces, during the time they are infectious.”
The bulk of Ebola cases were coming from Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria and Dr Young said that it was unlikely the man has the deadly virus.
“Importantly, this patient doesn’t have a fever which is one of the first signs of Ebola virus infection, so it is very unlikely that he has Ebola virus from his history of where he’s been and also his symptoms.
“So there is absolutely no need for people to panic for any reason,” she said.
Reports on social media and calls to 13 HEALTH suggest people were cancelling holidays to Queensland, checking out of their Gold Coast accommodation early, and even pulling their children out of school.
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