A spokeswoman for North Metro Health Service told SBS in a statement that the patient, who was tested for Ebola in Perth's Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, has been released from quarantine and is no longer a suspected case of Ebola.
"SCGH has a number of purpose-built isolation rooms to manage potentially infectious patients," the spokeswoman said in a statement. "There are rooms equipped with air conditioning controls to isolate the air flow from the remainder of the hospital. These facilities are located in the Emergency Department as well as in a number of inpatient wards in the hospital.
"Should a patient present to the hospital with a potentially contagious condition, a management process is immediately enacted and he or she is moved to an appropriate inpatient room and treated by staff wearing protective equipment and applying body fluid protection practices.
"It is important to note that no Ebola virus disease cases have been confirmed in WA.
"Since the outbreak of Ebola virus commenced in West Africa this year, two persons who have travelled from Ebola-affected countries have been reported and investigated in WA for febrile illnesses (fever), including one currently. Both cases were quickly confirmed to have an alternative diagnosis and given appropriate treatment for that condition.”
No details about the patient - a female - could be disclosed, but a spokeswoman told SBS earlier today that she was recently admitted.
The spokeswoman said the risk of people with Ebola virus disease travelling to Australia is considered to be very low.
"Even if travellers from West Africa did develop Ebola virus disease after arrival in WA, or elsewhere in Australia, our standard of care and infection control is such that once the disease was diagnosed there would be a very low risk of transmission to other persons," she said.
A Gold Coast man was also cleared of having contracted the deadly virus earlier this month after falling ill upon returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa.
The Ebola outbreak in west Africa has claimed more than 2800 lives and infected more than 5800 people, primarily in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Share
