Patient tested for Ebola virus in California considered ‘low risk’

A patient in a Sacramento hospital was tested for Ebola on Tuesday, but is considered ‘low risk’ for the virus.

According to CBS 13, the patient, who was admitted to Kaiser Permanente, was thought to have been exposed to the deadly virus. However, California Department of Public Health officials believe that the patient is at a ‘low risk’ of having contracted Ebola.

KFBK noted that Deputy Director for the Center for Infectious Diseases, Dr. Gil Chavez, said Wednesday that they are awaiting test results as the patient’s blood samples were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The official results won’t be available for a few days.

Dr. Chavez also reiterated that there have only been two U.S. cases of Ebola so far and neither were in the state of California.

The Ebola outbreak started several months ago in West Africa and has killed upwards of 1,000 people in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

Symptoms of the virus can include arthritis, chills, diarrhea, fatigue, fever, headache, nausea, vomiting and internal as well as external bleeding.