Ebola Suspect At Dubai Airport Tests Negative, Leaves Country

The UAE’s Ministry of Health (MoH) announced that an airline passenger transiting through Dubai International Airport, suspected to have contracted the Ebola virus, has tested negative.

The man, coming from Liberia, has now left the country, official news agency WAM reported.

The man was suffering from diarrhea, which led to suspicions that he could have contracted the virus. He was quarantined for a few days to ensure that he was free from the disease, the report said.

The ministry said that the Dubai Health Authority conducted a medical check up in accordance with World Health Organisation’s regulations in such cases.

“All preventive and precautionary measures were followed, and full medical care was provided to the passenger during the quarantine period,” it said.

The MoH added that all the airports and land exit points in the UAE have been observing necessary precautions to ensure public safety, and that all the procedures are reviewed with WHO norms.

Meanwhile, the Health Authority Abu Dhabi said that a Nigerian girl transiting through the Abu Dhabi International Airport, also suspected of contracting the virus, has tested negative, and left the country, WAM reported.

The current outbreak of Ebola, the world’s worst recorded outbreak of the disease, has claimed at least 4,877 lives with 9,936 cases of the virus recorded as of October 19, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Liberia has been the worst hit, with 4,665 recorded cases and 2,705 deaths, followed by Sierra Leone and Guinea.