Dallas hospital says patient in ‘strict isolation’ may have deadly Ebola virus

DALLAS – A patient in a Dallas hospital is showing signs of the Ebola virus and is being kept in strict isolation with test results pending, hospital officials said Monday.

Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas said in a statement Monday that the patient’s symptoms and recent travel indicated a case of Ebola, the virus that has killed more than 3,000 people across West Africa and infected a handful of Americans who have travelled to that region.

Preliminary test results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are expected to come back Tuesday.

Hospital spokeswoman Candace White would not answer any questions about the patient or where the patient had visited.

The National Institutes of Health recently admitted an American doctor exposed to the virus while volunteering in Sierra Leone. Four other patients have been treated at hospitals in Georgia and Nebraska.

Presbyterian Hospital’s statement said officials there were following CDC recommendations to keep doctors, staff and patients safe.

According to the CDC, Ebola symptoms can include fever, muscle pain, vomiting and bleeding, and can appear as long as 21 days after exposure to the virus.