Ebola Outbreak 2014: Possible Case At Yale-New Haven Hospital

Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut admitted a patient late Wednesday night with Ebola-like symptoms, the hospital announced in a brief statement Thursday morning. The patient, who recently traveled to Liberia, was placed in isolation as part of the hospital’s standard protocol, officials told the Hartford Courant.

“We have not confirmed or ruled-out any diagnosis at this point,” the statement reads. “We don’t know what we have,” a hospital spokesperson told the Courant. Officials are waiting for test results that have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but the patient’s fever has subsided since being admitted, the Courant reported Thursday.

Although this is the first suspected Ebola patient that the hospital has seen, Yale-New Haven Hospital has the necessary equipment and facilities, and hospital staff have been preparing for possible Ebola cases, according to the hospital's website. Four intensive-care rooms at the hospital have been closed in preparation for possible cases, Dr. Gail D’Onofrio of Yale-New Haven told the New Haven Register. “We’re closing the beds, and we’re just going to keep them available.”

At least two American health care workers who cared for Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan in Dallas have contracted the deadly virus in recent days. Duncan, the first known person in the U.S. to contract the disease, died last week.