A man quarantined in a Belleville, Ont., hospital while awaiting Ebola test results is a member of the Canadian Forces aircrew who dropped off supplies to combat the disease in Sierra Leone, CBC News has learned.
The patient is currently in isolation and samples have been sent to the National Microbiology lab in Winnipeg. Results should be ready late Tuesday evening or early Wednesday morning.
The patient arrived at the Belleville General Hospital emergency room early Monday. He had recently returned from West Africa and showed some symptoms common with the Ebola virus.
Dr. Dick Zoutman, Quinte Health Care's chief of staff, said Tuesday the hospital has been working on a protocol since July, when the number of Ebola began rising in West Africa.
"Within four minutes, I am proud to say, [the patient] was put in appropriate isolation and the team using the protocol that had been developed over the summer, many months ago, activated our infection-control protocols and managed things very, very well," Zoutman told CBC News.
On Monday, Zoutman said there was a very low probability the case is Ebola and said the man is being tested as a precautionary measure.
"Given his symptoms and that he was not exposed to any ill people during a very short stopover in West Africa, it is extremely unlikely that he would test positive for Ebola," Zoutman told reporters during a Monday press conference.
"We expect he has any number of diseases common when people travel."
Testing for Ebola takes between 24 and 36 hours to complete.