Overview
- On Friday, June 12, São Paulo health authorities said they had discarded a suspected Ebola case after Instituto Adolfo Lutz diagnosed the patient with acute gastroenterocolitis following molecular testing.
- Rio Grande do Sul is still investigating a 64-year-old man who recently traveled to Uganda; he tested positive for Plasmodium falciparum malaria but samples have been sent to Fiocruz for definitive Ebola testing.
- Both states are following national protocols by isolating suspected patients, applying biosafety measures, mapping and monitoring contacts for 30 days and notifying the Ministry of Health.
- São Paulo has held online training for more than 1,000 health workers and updated technical guidance for frontline teams while describing the risk of Ebola introduction to Brazil as very low.
- Ebola symptoms overlap with other infections such as malaria and gastroenterocolitis, which is why regional labs first screen samples and the national reference lab at Fiocruz performs confirmatory molecular tests, and continued surveillance could increase demand on labs and airport screening measures.