Saudi man being tested for Ebola virus after returning from Sierra Leone

Saudi's health ministry said a Saudi in his 40s was at a hospital in Jeddah after showing 'symptoms of viral haemorrhagic fever', which resemble symptoms of the Ebola virus.

Saudi Arabia is testing a man for suspected Ebola infection after he returned recently from a business trip to Sierra Leone, the kingdom’s health ministry said on Tuesday.

It said the man, a Saudi in his 40s, was at a hospital in Jeddah after showing “symptoms of viral haemorrhagic fever”, which resemble symptoms of the Ebola virus.

The ministry said it had taken precautionary measures, including isolating the patient at a specialist hospital and had sent blood samples to an international laboratory in coordination with the World Health Organisation (WHO) for further checks.

Ebola is one of the deadliest diseases known in humans with a case fatality rate of up to 90 per cent. The death rate in the current West Africa outbreak is around 60 per cent.

Saudi Arabia has been on alert against the spread of the virus from west Africa, where more than 800 people have died, suspending issuance of visas from several countries for the annual Haj pilgrimage.

WHO chief Margaret Chan said last week that an outbreak of the virus in West Africa was out of control but can be stopped with more resources and tougher measures. The outbreak is the worst since the disease was discovered in the mid-1970s.

There are no effective treatments and no vaccine to protect against Ebola infection. The disease is transmitted by direct contact with the blood or fluids of the infected, including the dead.

Meanwhile, British Airways became the latest airline to suspend services to the affected region over concerns about the spread of the disease. The airline said it had “suspended our flights to and from Liberia and Sierra Leone until August 31”.

In the United States, a second American aid worker infected with Ebola arrived in Atlanta yesterday, where doctors would closely monitor the effect of an experimental drug she agreed to take even though its safety has not been tested on humans.

Nancy Writebol would join Dr Kent Brantly in the isolation unit at Emory University Hospital, just downhill from the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

* Reuters