A patient was admitted on Thursday evening to the High Level Isolation Unit of Radboudumc 'with a low suspicion of Ebola infection'.

A patient who may be infected with Ebola has been admitted to Radboudumc at the request of the Dutch National Coordination Centre for Infectious Disease Control (LCI). The hospital confirmed this in a press release: “On Thursday evening, 21 May, at the request of the National Coordination Centre for Infectious Disease Control, we admitted a patient with a low suspicion of Ebola. This patient has been admitted to our specially equipped High Level Isolation Unit for diagnostics and medical care. The final results are expected over the course of the weekend.”

The High Level Isolation Unit is located next to the main hospital in Gebouw P on Erasmuslaan, opposite the University Library of the Radboud University.

The Ebola virus can be deadly and is highly contagious. It broke out in the Democratic Republic of Congo and several neighbouring countries in the past week. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the situation a global health emergency and warns of a significant risk of further spread within the region. However, the risk of global spread is currently considered limited.

The Hantavirus

Radboudumc recently made headlines when a patient with Hantavirus was admitted, who had come from the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius. At that time, admission to the High Level Isolation Unit was not chosen. Professor of Infectious Disease Outbreaks Chantal Rovers from Radboudumc explained to Vox why.

During the treatment of the Hantavirus patient, something went wrong in complying with strict procedures for taking blood and urine samples. As a result, twelve Radboudumc staff members had to undergo preventive quarantine for six weeks. The Hantavirus patient recovered and has since been discharged from the hospital.