UPDATE:
Queensland Health have confirmed the 27-year-old has tested negative to the Ebola virus.
Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young has tonight confirmed tests taken from a Gold Coast man suspected of having Ebola virus disease have returned a negative result.
It follows comments from doctors earlier in the day that the patient was exceedingly unlikely to have the disease based on his symptoms and the areas in Africa in which he travelled to.
“I would like to thank all health and ambulance staff involved in the management of this patient; it was a job well done and serves to show the community that our emergency preparedness plans are sound, and that they can rely on their health services,” Dr Young said.
“I also thank the media for helping to allay the fears and hype in the community — it was a very important message for us to convey.”
Dr Young said while it was highly unlikely Ebola virus disease would come to Queensland, anyone who has travelled to parts of West Africa affected by the outbreak and who are concerned about their health, should visit their GP.
Dr Young said the treating team at the Gold Coast University Hospital would ultimately determine the patient’s treatment options based on the results and his current condition.
EARLIER:
A man feared to have contracted the potentially deadly Ebola virus is being rushed to the Gold Coast University Hospital, according to reports.
The man, Michael Walsh originally from Warwick in WA, has just returned from a virus-hit part of Africa and has been seriously ill for two days, emergency crews have told The Gold Coast Bulletin.
Police sources confirmed a man in his 20s was taken by ambulance from the Southport watchhouse with Ebola symptoms.
He had been arrested at Chevron Renaissance, in the heart of the Surfers Paradise tourist precinct, for trespass overnight.
It is believed when the man was being bailed this morning he told officers he felt sick, and as a precaution paramedics were called.
It was then discovered he had recently returned from The Congo. Police are waiting on further advice from health authorities on the risk.
Gold Coast police Chief Superintendent Des Lacy said the man had been in a cell by himself but watchhouse staff had been ‘protectively cleansed’ as a precaution.
The man was put in the hospital’s purpose-built negative pressure isolation room and was being assessed by world renowned infectious diseases expert Dr John Gerrard, a Queensland Health spokeswoman said.
She said the man had reported Ebola-like symptoms, but she stressed Ebola symptoms were initially similar to those of the flu.
She said the hospital was well prepared for an Ebola infection, with the federal health authorities recently handing out protocols for all hospitals to follow in the event of someone contracting the virus.
She added the Gold Coast University Hospital had in recent weeks also established the Ebola Virus Disease Working Group to prepare for the unlikely event of an outbreak.
The man is yet to be confirmed with Ebola virus.Gold Coast residents are advised to remain calm.
Queensland Health’s acting director of communicable diseases Dr Heidi Carroll said there was only a low risk of it being Ebola, but all precautions were being taken.
She said an outcome should be known within a few hours.
“This could be a person who has presented with fever and has malaria,” she said.
“So it’s really too early to tell what this patient has and as I said before, we have no details on the patient at all to provide an assessment to you.
“So we just have to wait and see.”
Gold Coast Health acting chief executive Damian Green said in a statement on Thursday morning: “Gold Coast Health can confirm a patient has been transferred to Gold Coast University Hospital after being identified by paramedics as having symptoms of Ebola virus.
“Gold Coast Health is taking necessary precautions and has isolated the patient who is currently being assessed.
“Gold Coast Heath has processes in place to safely manage such circumstances.
“Universal infection control procedures are in place and there is limited risk to patients and staff.”
TheGold Coast Bulletin reported that paramedics were instructed to wear protective clothing before taking the man to hospital
Gold Coast Airport is waiting for confirmation from the hospital before putting safety precautions in place.
More than 1,500 people in West Africa have died in the worst Ebola outbreak on record, and the WHO has warned the disease could infect 20,000 people before it is contained.
First discovered in 1976, the virus has periodically spread through parts of Africa, killing thousands in the process.
Ebola is a severe acute viral illness often characterised by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat.
This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.
Laboratory findings include low white blood cell and platelet counts and elevated liver enzymes.
People are infectious as long as their blood and secretions contain the virus.
Ebola virus was isolated from semen 61 days after onset of illness in a man who was infected in a laboratory.
The incubation period, that is, the time interval from infection with the virus to onset of symptoms, is 2 to 21 days.
There is no specific treatment for Ebola at this stage, no vaccine and due to its fast onset and horrific symptoms it has become one of the world’s most feared diseases.
Patients can only be given pain relief, fluids to keep them comfortable and treatment for secondary infections.