A Patient Is Being Tested for Ebola at a California Hospital

An unnamed patient has been admitted to a hospital in Sacramento over possible exposure to the Ebola virus, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

“We are working with the Sacramento County Division of Public Health regarding a patient admitted to the Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center who may have been exposed to the Ebola virus,” Dr. Stephen M. Parodi, an infectious-diseases specialist and director of the hospital’s operations, said in a statement.

He said patient samples had already been collected and sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for further testing. The hospital has also taken the necessary precautions to protect other patients, staff and doctors.

“This includes isolation of the patient in a specially equipped negative pressure room and the use of personal protective equipment by trained staff, coordinated with infectious disease specialists,” said Parodi.

The hospital did not give details about the patient, state when the patient was admitted, or say if the patient had recently been in West Africa, the Chronicle reported.

The world’s worst-ever Ebola outbreak has swept through several countries in West Africa and has killed more than 1,200 people since the first case was reported in Guinea in December of last year.

Two American aid workers, who contracted the disease in Liberia, returned to the U.S. for treatment earlier this month.

[San Francisco Chronicle]