A Nigerian man who was quarantined after he showed Ebola-like symptoms
during a trip to Hong Kong has tested negative for the deadly virus.
The southern Chinese city government said in a statement on Sunday
that the man had "tested negative for Ebola virus upon preliminary
laboratory testing".
"In the past one month ... he had no contact history with sick persons
or animals and did not visit health-are facilities," a government
spokesman said in the statement. "He is currently in stable
condition."
The 32-year-old arrived in Hong Kong from Lagos, Nigeria's most
populous city, via Dubai on Thursday and was hospitalised on Sunday
after vomiting and suffering from diarrhoea.
A densely populated city of some seven million people, Hong Kong is
particularly alert to the spread of viruses after Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome killed almost 300 people eleven years ago.
On July 30, the Hong Kong government said it would quarantine as a
precaution all people from Ebola-infected areas who showed any symptom
of the disease such as fever, vomiting or diarrhoea.
Last week, a woman who showed Ebola-like symptoms after returning from
a holiday in Kenya, also tested negative for the virus.
Local broadcaster RTHK reported that the Nigerian man had arrived in
Hong Kong from his home country on Thursday and was vomiting before he
was hospitalised on Sunday morning.
Chinese supplies
In a separate development, China said on Sunday that it had arranged
80 tonnes of anti-Ebola materials for virus-hit countries in West
Africa.
A Boeing 747 plane took off from Shanghai on Sunday to transport the
supplies to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea to fight against the
Ebola virus.
"The supplies are mainly anti-epidemic goods including protective
suits, disinfectants, thermometers and medical drugs," said Wang
Shengwen, director of the Department of Foreign Assistance of the
Ministry of Commerce of China.
Nigeria, along with Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have been hardest
hit by the latest epidemic, which the World Health Organisation (WHO)
has called the worst outbreak of its kind in four decades.
The most populous nation in Africa, Nigeria confirmed two new cases on
Friday of the often fatal hemorrhagic disease, bringing the total
number of infections to nine, including two deaths.
The WHO has declared the epidemic an international health emergency,
as countries scramble to impose measures to prevent any spread of a
contagion that has claimed almost 1,000 lives.
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