A patient who tested negative for the Ebola virus this week in Kelowna is only one of more than a dozen B.C. health-care workers who have been or currently are in West Africa to fight a deadly outbreak of the disease, provincial health officials say. <\/p>\n
And the monitoring and testing regime for that patient is likely to be used more widely in weeks and months to come as more health-care workers return from regions where the virus has killed thousands of people since an outbreak began earlier this year. <\/p>\n
I think it is important to note that there are a number of health-care workers who have returned from working with Ebola treatment centres in West Africa, and they have been monitored safely in the community, and there are a number of them being monitored at this time, deputy provincial health officer Bonnie Henry said on Tuesday in a conference call. <\/p>\n
So it is likely we may have something like this arise again, with another health-care worker, but at this point, we are confident this person is being managed safely and carefully. <\/p>\n
Seven B.C. health-care workers including the one in hospital in Kelowna are being monitored after returning from West Africa, while another nine have completed the monitoring period and been cleared, Dr. Henry said. <\/p>\n
The health-care worker who was tested this week had been at an Ebola care centre in Sierra Leone and was being monitored according to provincial protocols, which require a 21-day self-monitoring period and remaining within two hours of a hospital equipped for Ebola testing. <\/p>\n
The worker, who returned to Canada on Christmas Day, felt mild flu-like symptoms on Sunday evening and reported to Kelowna General Hospital on Monday, where tests were conducted and the patient is in isolation. Preliminary results have been negative for Ebola, and additional tests are expected to confirm those results. <\/p>\n
Provincial health officials, citing privacy regulations, would not give details about the workers identity. <\/p>\n
But the Canadian Red Cross, saying it had the patients consent, identified her as Patrice Gordon, one of 24 Canadian aid workers who travelled with the Red Cross to Ebola-affected countries. <\/p>\n
Mike Ertel, chief of staff at Kelowna General Hospital, read a statement from Ms. Gordon on the conference call, although he did not identify her at that time. <\/p>\n
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