A hospital in Westchester says it's treating a patient who's showing signs of Ebola after the patient recently returned from a trip to West Africa.
The patient is being tested for the virus at St. Joseph Medical Center in Yonkers, officials say. The patient is currently quarantined in a special unit at the hospital.
The Westchester County Department of Health said it's working with the hospital and doctors to ensure all infection control measures are in place.
The most common diagnosis in travelers with fever who have recently returned from Ebola-affected countries has been malaria, the health department said.
It's not clear where exactly in West Africa the patient had traveled. According to the Centers for Disease Control, portions of Sierra Leone and Guinea still have cases of Ebola, while Liberia has been declared Ebola-free.
Despite sporadic scares of possible Ebola cases in the tri-state since last year, only one person has been diagnosed with the potentially deadly virus here: Dr. Craig Spencer of Hamilton Heights, Manhattan. Spencer was successfully treated at Bellevue Hospital in early November after returning from Guinea while working with Doctors Without Borders.
A New Jersey man who recently returned from Liberia died Monday evening after he was diagnosed with Lassa fever -- another infectious disease from West Africa that is rarely seen in the U.S. but is not spread through casual contact.
