Patient held in isolation at Toronto hospital tests negative for Ebola | Toronto Star

A patient held in isolation at a Toronto hospital has tested negative for the Ebola virus.

The University Health Network said in an emailed statement sent early Saturday that the Ebola test was conducted in Winnipeg. The negative test result means the isolation protocol has now been discontinued.

“This means that the patient will not be isolated and staff caring for the patient will not be using special personal protective equipment for Ebola while providing care,” the statement said.

“In the coming months there will be occasions at UHN and at hospitals throughout the GTA where such protocols are put into effect.  UHN has been working on our response for some time and – in this case – the response followed the protocol throughout  and everyone working with the case has been professional, caring, trained and prepared,” said Gillian Howard, vice president of public affairs for UHN. 

 The patient, who had a history of travel in Nigeria, developed a fever while in hospital as an outpatient, said Dr. Michael Gardam, director of infection prevention and control at the University Health Network.

“Truly, this isn’t behaving like Ebola virus at this point so I’m really not expecting the results to be positive,” he said on Friday.

Nigeria has not reported any new cases of Ebola in close to a month, which is another reason doctors expected the test results to be negative.

Hospitals in Brampton, St. Catharines and Montreal also quarantined patients who complained of flu-like symptoms after travelling in West Africa. All of those patients tested negative for the virus.

Meanwhile, Toronto Public Health confirmed a patient was quarantined coming off a flight at Pearson airport Thursday night, but doctors ruled out Ebola based on the patient’s symptoms and travel history.

There has been one confirmed case of Ebola in North America: a patient in Dallas tested positive for Ebola on Tuesday.

More than 3,300 people, mainly in West Africa, have died from Ebola since the start of the 2014 outbreak.

With files from Tamara Khandaker and Diana Hall