Man falls ill after visit to western Africa; placed in hospital isolation

SASKATOON – Saskatchewan health officials say a man who recently travelled to western Africa is seriously ill in hospital with high fever and other symptoms.

Dr. Denise Werker, deputy chief medical health officer, says therehas been no official diagnosis, but one possibility is a viral hemorrhagic fever.

There has been an outbreak of Ebola virus in the area of Africa where the man was travelling.

Werker says the man is in isolation and there is no risk to the general public.

She says hemorrhagic fevers are spread through contact with a sick person’s bodily fluids — one of the final symptoms is bleeding from the mouth and eyes.

Werker says the man showed no signs of illness on his return journey.