Finland prepares to treat first suspected Ebola patient

HELSINKI - The Meilahti Hospital in the Finnish capital Helsinki has prepared to treat the first suspected Ebola patient, reported local media Helsingin Uutiset on Thursday evening.

The patient has been sent to the infection department in the hospital, and will be treated in two or three hours.

Asko Jarvinen, chief physician at Helsinki and Uusimaa hospital district, told Helsingin Uutiset that it was unlikely this is really a case of Ebola.

However, the possibility cannot be excluded, as the patient arrived in Finland from Ebola-epidemic area on Oct 8 and he had a high fever when required hospital treatment, according to Jarvinen.

Since its was first reported in Guinea in March, the Ebola epidemic has killed nearly 5,000 people and infected some 13,703 people, mostly in three West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the World Health Organization said in its latest update released on Wednesday.