Ebola Scare Hits Europe as Sweden Investigates Suspected Case

Sep 01, 2014 04:05 AM EDT

Health workers wearing protective clothing prepare to carry an abandoned dead body presenting with Ebola symptoms at Duwala market in Monrovia. REUTERS/2Tango

The Stockhom County Council has confirmed that a young man has been placed in medical isolation in Stockholm, becoming the first suspected Ebola case in Sweden.

Fears that the dreaded Ebola virus has already reached the European shore emerged when a spokeswoman for Stockholm's County Council said Sweden now has a suspected case.

Like Us on Facebook

"It's not confirmed yet," the spokeswoman, however, said.

The patient, a young man who had traveled in an Ebola-hit African country, developed high fever and stomach pains and sought medical care days after arriving in Stockholm.

"The risk that this is an Ebola case is minimal, but we are handling this with extreme care," communicable disease specialist Ake Ortqvist told the newspaper Aftonbladet.

Dr. Ortqvist added that the probability for an Ebola outbreak in Sweden is very low.

Sources said medical staff at the Karolinska University Hospital have already taken blood sample from the patient and the results are expected to be released by Monday evening. The blood sample will be thoroughly examined by the Sweden's Public Health Agency.

It was not the first time that a suspected Ebola case has been reported in Europe in the recent weeks.

However, after examination by medical authorities the suspected cases have turned out to be false alarms.

The World Health Organization said at least 1,500 people have already succumbed to the deadly Ebola virus in the four affected countries of Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

Meanwhile, China's first anti-Ebola drug already obtained manufacturing approval as a special medication for the People's Liberation Army.

The drug named "JK-05" has been developed by the Institute of Microbiology Epidemiology under Academy of Military Medical Sciences.

"JK-05 is a micro-molecular chemical, and its pharmacological mechanism is to selectively contain the RNA polymerase of the Ebola virus so as to inhibit virus replication," Academy of Military Medical Sciences Prof. Wang Hongquan said.

TagsEbola Sweden, Sweden Ebola, Ebola Stockholm