A Nigerian woman showing symptoms of
Ebola Virus Disease caused a scare after she fainted at a crowded
jobcentre in Berlin, Germany on Tuesday.
She was immediately rushed in an
ambulance to the Charite Hospital but about 600 visitors and officials
of the job centre were quarantined by emergency service officials who
sealed off part of the street in Prenzlauer Berg district where the
centre is located.
Several who came into contact with her
were later taken to the hospital for testing while those quarantined
were allowed to go after several hours.
The Mailonline quoted a
mass-circulation German daily, Bild, as reporting that the woman
later claimed that she recently came into contact with people infected
with Ebola.
Berlin fire department spokesman, Rolf
Erbe, said that because the patient came from “an area affected by a
highly contagious disease, we took these precautions.”
He said the testing in the hospital would take some time.
“The patient was isolated inside the
ambulance, the staff took the appropriate protective measures. An
emergency medic, the public health officer, arrived and the necessary
precautions were taken,” Erbe added.
A spokesman for the city’s health
authority said emergency services were called after the woman, who
turned up at the employment bureau with a high fever, collapsed.
