Possible Ebola case in Rotterdam hospital false alarm

THE HAGUE -- Emergency services in Rotterdam took an immediate action on Wednesday evening due to a possible case of Ebola, but investigation showed it was a false alarm.

A woman came to the first aid post of the Maasstad hospital with signs of the highly contagious disease, fever and vomiting. A coordinated deployment of the emergency services was initiated afterwards by the Safety Region Rotterdam-Rijnmond.

The woman with the symptoms of the disease came from DR Congo, but not from an area where the disease currently prevails. The Maasstad hospital initiated the Ebola protocol on the basis of the disease symptoms of the patient and the fact that she came from Congo.

During the investigation people were not allowed to leave the hospital and no one was allowed to enter. Some visitors to the first aid post, where the woman had reported herself, were temporarily quarantined. The woman was treated in a special air filtered space. Just after midnight the Safety Region Rotterdam-Rijnmond announced she did not have Ebola.

The Rotterdam hospital has a Ebola protocol since 2014, when there was an outbreak of the disease in West Africa. Since August 2018 a new Ebola outbreak occurred in the North East of Congo.