Brazil, Italy and Kenya Investigate Possible Ebola Links After Travelers Return from DRC and Uganda

Health authorities in Brazil and Italy are investigating suspected Ebola cases in travelers returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. In Sao Paulo, a man from the DRC presented with fever after visiting the country and tested positive for meningitis. Brazil’s Health Ministry said the patient has been intubated and remains in serious condition.

In Rio de Janeiro, a patient who had traveled to Uganda tested positive for malaria. Local health authorities stated that neither case has ruled out Ebola and both remain under investigation. In Italy, a symptomatic patient who returned from Congo was admitted to a hospital in Sardinia, triggering Ebola protocols.

The patient in Cagliari, Sardinia, who flew back from Congo on Saturday with symptoms tested negative for Ebola, the health ministry said on Monday. The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the DRC reached 282 with 42 deaths after 19 new positive results, according to the communications ministry.

The outbreak has spread to 22 health zones across three eastern provinces, up from 13 zones reported days earlier.

The World Health Organization declared the outbreak in the DRC and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern last month. Uganda has recorded nine cases, one of them fatal. Four nurses being treated for the Bundibugyo strain were discharged from a hospital in Bunia after recovering.

A laboratory worker recovered from the Bundibugyo strain earlier this week. The total number of people who have recovered from the virus is five, the World Health Organisation said. The outbreak is the 17th in the DRC and the third-largest since Ebola was discovered half a century ago.