RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- A Saudi businessman in his 40s who recently returned from Sierra Leone may have died of Ebola, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health said Wednesday.
Ibrahim Al-Zahrani was admitted on Monday to King Fahd Hospital with symptoms of hemorrhagic fever.
Doctors tested him for Dengue virus, yellow fever, and Alkhumra. Samples of his lab work were sent to an American international reference laboratory, per World Health Organization recommendations, and to a laboratory in Germany.
Saudi healthy ministry officials are monitoring people Al-Zahrani came in contact with for any possible signs of hemorrhagic fever.
WHO has recorded 1,603 cases of confirmed, probable, and suspected Ebola, including 887 deaths in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.
In Sierra Leone, where Al-Zahrani had recently returned from, there have been 646 cases of confirmed, probable, and suspected Ebola in Sierra Leone, including 273 deaths, since the outbreak began in March.
The Ebola virus is spread by close contact and typically kills up to 90 percent of its victims. There is no known cure or antivirus.
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