Guinean woman has malaria not Ebola
A Guinean woman who returned from her Ebola-hit country and had been tested for Ebola actually has malaria, Dr Apichai Mongkol, director general of the Medical Science Department said Friday.
The 24-year-old woman was tested for the second time by the Public Health Ministry on Thursday and the blood test was negative or the deadly disease.
Instead, she has been diagnosed with Falciparum malaria, the most dangerous form of the mosquitoborne disease that exhibits symptoms similar to those of Ebola. Falciparum patients often have multidrug resistance. It is common in most tropical countries.
The woman arrived Thailand on August 20 and developed fever, vomiting and a sore throat nine days later. She consulted doctors at a provincial hospital as her symptoms were similar to those of Ebola disease. She was then quarantined and went through two series of blood tests.
About 1,069 people travelling to Thailand from Ebolahit countries have been screened between June 8 to September 3. So far, none have shown any symptoms of the deadly virus, Apichai said.
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