Dispelling stories on social media that a Lusaka man died from Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) contracted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Minister of Health Dr Chitalu Chilufya said the patient in question was being treated for septicemia and not Ebola.
In a statement today, Dr Chilufya said, “There is no Ebola Virus Disease case in Zambia.
“Yesterday, it was reported in some social media that a suspected EVD case was admitted to the Levy Mwanawasa Teaching Hospital (LMTH) and this has caused panic and anxiety amongst members of the public.
“May I take this opportunity to inform the public that contrary to the news circulating in the social media there is no case of EVD in Zambia. Allow me to make a clarification and update you on the patient currently admitted to LMTH.
“The patient is a 41 year old male who is a resident of Serenje District who came to Lusaka for a church camp meeting on 27th August 2018. He was already of ill health on travel. He presented with fever, discoloration of the skin resulting from bleeding underneath the skin and red patching in the white of the eye among other symptoms was immediately admitted and quarantined to rule out EVD.
“On further investigation, our health workers made a tentative diagnosis of septicemia, a condition of blood infection with bacteria or other microorganisms.
“Further to that our laboratory investigations conducted at the University Of Zambia School Of Veterinary Medicine has ruled out Ebola Virus Disease.”
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