Ebola patient in Italy hospital awaits test results

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Italy's Ministry of Health has said that in a suspected case of Ebola in Cagliari, investigations are underway on a patient who returned from Congo and is now in the Sardinian capital, local media reported. The patient, symptomatic, has undergone the Ebola test, which will be analysed by Spallanzani in Rome on Sunday evening.

The patient is currently in isolation at a hospital facility. The Ministry of Health stated in a note, is in contact with the local health authorities of Sardinia and with Spallanzani (Italy's National Institute for Infectious Diseases) to monitor the evolution of the situation, Adnkronos news agency reported.

The patient is hospitalised in the Infectious Diseases department of the Santissima Trinita hospital in the city. Test samples to ascertain the presence of the virus were sent to Rome by air ambulance. All protective procedures foreseen in these cases have been activated in the Is Mirrionis hospital.

Italy's government also urged Europe to step up surveillance coordination at its borders to combat the spread of Ebola, Italy's Prime Minister, Georgia Meloni's office said in a statement on Friday. Italy is sending a team of experts from Rome's Spallanzani infectious diseases hospital to Congo to help combat the outbreak and strengthen monitoring and control of the virus, PM Meloni's office added.

"Italy believes that the epidemiological situation in Central Africa linked to the recent outbreak of the Bundibugyo Ebola virus (BVD strain) in Congo and (neighbouring) Uganda requires the utmost attention," the statement said. "For this reason, Meloni has written to the European Union Council President Nikos Christodoulides, European Council President Antonio Costa, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen," the statement added.

"The aim is to urge -- while respecting national prerogatives on health protection -- enhanced coordination of border surveillance through common rules for managing direct and indirect arrivals from the affected areas," the statement said.

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