This undated photo made available by the Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, shows the Ebola virus viewed through an electron microscope. The World Health Organization on Friday, Aug. 8, 2014 declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa to be an international public health emergency that requires an extraordinary response to stop its spread. (AP Photo/Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine)
LONDON – A woman who fell ill at an immigration facility center in Scotland is being tested for the Ebola virus, health officials said Friday.
It is thought to be “highly unlikely” that the woman, who British media reported is from Sierra Leone, would test positive, a Lanarkshire health authority spokesman said.
The woman was being held at the Dungavel House south of Glasgow, which is used to house asylum seekers before they are deported from Britain. The facility has a capacity of up to 200 people.
“We are currently investigating a possible case” of Ebola, the spokesman said.
“This is a precautionary measure and it would appear at this stage to be highly unlikely the patient will test positive for Ebola.”
The Ebola outbreak has so far claimed more than 1,000 lives in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia and Nigeria.
The medical charity MSF has said the outbreak is moving faster than aid organizations can handle while the World Health Organization said the scale of the epidemic had been vastly underestimated.