Sierra Leone Athlete Tested And Cleared Of Ebola At Commonwealth Games

A cyclist from Sierra Leone at the Commonweath Games in Glasgow tested negative for the Ebola virus, four days after he was placed in isolation for fear that he may have brought the deadly disease into the country, officials said Friday.

Moses Sesay was tested at a Glasgow hospital after he fell sick and showed symptoms of the disease, which has killed hundreds in the most recent outbreak in three African countries, including Sierra Leone. The 32-year-old athlete competed in his event on Thursday after clearing the tests.

"There is no Ebola in the athletes' village," a statement from the Games organizers said. "We can confirm an athlete was tested for a number of things when he fell ill last week, including Ebola.”

Sesay told the Daily Mirror: “All the doctors were in special suits to treat me - they dressed like I had Ebola. I was very scared.”

"I was admitted for four days and they tested me for Ebola. It came back negative but they did it again and this time sent it to London, where it was also negative."

According to Associated Press, Dr. Colin Ramsay at Health Protection Scotland told BBC Radio Scotland: "There's been no program of actively screening athletes simply because of the Commonwealth Games.

"The situation is that if someone presents with symptoms suggestive of the possibility of Ebola virus infection and who has come from a country affected by the current outbreak -- and that's Sierra Leone and Guinea and Liberia -- they would be investigated accordingly, and that would involve managing them with a set of standard precautions," Ramsay said.

On Thursday, Seychelles forfeited a 2015 African National Cup qualifying game, and denied Sierra Leone’s soccer team entry into the Indian Ocean island country over fears of the virus.