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Macedonia Says Unlikely Briton Who Died In Skopje Had Ebola


Medical personnel leave a quarantined hotel in Skopje, Macedonia, after a man was taken to hospital with symptoms associated with the Ebola virus.
Medical personnel leave a quarantined hotel in Skopje, Macedonia, after a man was taken to hospital with symptoms associated with the Ebola virus.

Macedonian authorities say there is a "small probability" a Briton who died in the capital, Skopje, had the Ebola virus.

But Health Ministry official Jovanka Kostovska stressed the need to wait for full test results from Germany expected on October 11.

Kostovska also said none of the 35 people put in isolation showed Ebola symptoms.

The British man died on October 9 hours after being rushed to hospital.

He was showing symptoms associated with the Ebola virus, including fever, vomiting, and internal bleeding.

The Briton had arrived in Macedonia from London on October 2 and is not thought to have travelled to any of the West African countries affected by the Ebola virus.

Ebola has killed nearly 4,000 people, mainly in West Africa, since March.

In Spain, 14 people were in isolation on October 10 after a nurse, the first person believed to have contracted Ebola outside Africa, laid gravely ill.

She is reported to be in a "serious but stable" condition.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy warned of a "complex and difficult" situation, but told reporters he was "absolutely convinced" everything necessary would be done to overcome the crisis.

Fears about Ebola have been increasing rapidly in Europe.

Late on October 9, media in the Czech Republic reported the hospitalization of a man in Prague who was described as showing Ebola-like symptoms.

It turned out the man, who had recently been in Liberia, did not have Ebola and reports on October 10 said he was being tested for malaria.

Also on October 9, British authorities announced "enhanced screening" for Ebola for those arriving from affected countries in West Africa.

The new measures are due to start at London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports and Eurostar railway terminals.

The news came one day after the United States announced that travelers from Ebola-affected countries would face increased security scrutiny at five airports, including New York's JFK.

That announcement followed the death of the first man diagnosed with Ebola in the United States.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP
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