Patient Tested For Ebola In Edinburgh

16 February 2015, 17:41 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A patient is being tested for Ebola at an Edinburgh hospital after returning from west Africa.

NHS Lothian confirmed that the patient was admitted to the regional infectious diseases unit at the city's Western General Hospital.

Melanie Johnson, director of unscheduled care for the health board, said: "A patient who recently returned to Scotland from west Africa has been admitted to our regional infectious diseases unit (RIDU) at the Western General Hospital after reporting a raised temperature.

"The patient will be screened for possible infections and as a precaution will be kept in isolation.

"We have robust systems in place to manage patients with suspected infectious diseases and follow agreed and tested national guidelines.''

Pauline Cafferkey was the first Scot diagnosed with the disease after returning from working in Sierra Leone in December.

The nurse, from Cambuslang in South Lanarkshire, had volunteered with Save the Children at the Ebola Treatment Centre (ETC) in Kerry Town.

She spent more than three weeks in a London hospital where she was critically ill for a time, but was released last month after making a full recovery.

Edinburgh's Western General Hospital dealt with a suspected case in January when a patient, reported to be a woman, was screened for infection after reporting a raised temperature after returning from west Africa, but tested negative.