Doctors rule out Ebola infection in Romanian patient

Romanian health authorities said on Sunday that a 51-year-old Romanian man suspected of having contracted a severe infectious disease during a visit to Nigeria last month did not have Ebola.      

The man flew to Romania from Nigeria on July 25 in good medical condition. Later he had symptoms of high fever, vomiting and diarrhoea.         

"We've taken all epidemiological data, step by step, and we found those elements that rule out Ebola infection in this patient in a 99 percent proportion," Adrian Streinu-Cercel, director of the Matei Bals Infectious Diseases Institute, told reporters.

In the same regard, a patient being treated in a Hong Kong hospital in the city's first suspected Ebola case has tested negative for the virus, Hong Kong's health department said.       

The 32-year-old man had traveled to Hong Kong from Nigeria, where a state of emergency has been declared over the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.       

The patient was put in isolation after going to a hospital earlier on Sunday as he developed diarrhoea and vomiting but no fever. He is currently in a stable condition, the health department said in a statement.        

Hong Kong went on full alert for Ebola late in July.

Also on Sunday, a patient being treated in a Toronto-area hospital in a suspected Ebola case has tested negative for the virus, Ontario's health ministry said. 

The patient had recently traveled to Canada from Nigeria, where a state of emergency has been declared over the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The patient was put in isolation after showing flu-like symptoms and fever.      

"I can now confirm a recent case that underwent testing at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg was found to test negative for Ebola virus disease," Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins said in a statement.