[Update below.] Reports of a patient hospitalized in Lakewood, NJ, with Ebola are false, state officials say.
Ebola was ruled out as the virus that hospitalized the man last night and prompted responses from hazardous materials units.
Donna Leusner, spokeswoman at the New Jersey Department of Health, confirmed that the patient did not have Ebola.
“The individual is being treated for a non-contagious, travel-related illness,” Leusner said. “The individual traveled in an African country that is not impacted by Ebola.”
The patient, a Neptune resident, was at the WaWa Shopping Center at Squankum Road and East Kennedy Boulevard when police, fire and hazardous materials personnel responded.
The patient, who was said to be vomiting and burning up with 105-degree fever, had visited Nigeria a few weeks ago.
Hazmat units from the New Jersey State Police and Berkeley Emergency Response Team Station 85 responded.
The patient remains in isolation at Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus, formerly Kimball Medical Center, on River Avenue in Lakewood.
Hospital personnel suspect that the patient might have contracted malaria, but no official statement has been released at this time.
Update: Lakewood Police Chief Robert Lawson tells Matzav.com that the 66-year-old male who was taken to the hospital with high fever and vomiting has malaria.
Lawson said, “Malaria is not communicable. The man returned from Nigeria, not one of countries where Ebola is not even prevalent. The public should not worry, and we’re praying that the gentleman has a speedy and complete recovery.”
{Dov Green-Matzav.com Newscenter}
