A patient with Ebola-like symptoms has been quarantined at the Mapel hospital in Wau State as health officials await laboratory test results.

The director general of the state ministry of health, James Ambrose, told Radio Tamazuj on Friday that samples of the patient had been taken for analysis.

 “The patient is a soldier undergoing military training in Mapel. The said patient is bleeding from his ears, so he had been quarantined and doctors are taking care of him,” Ambrose explained.

The health official further said two others had fallen ill with body aches, fever and vomiting, which can also be symptoms of Ebola. He pointed out that further examination found both of them did not have the disease.

The health official assured that all necessary precautionary measures had been taken in Mapel area. “We want to assure the public that the cases are stable. We are still waiting for the result and it will be made public,” he said.

“Only one patient has Ebola-like symptoms but the other two patients are responding to treatment,” he added.

 The health minister noted that the symptoms that have been exhibited by the patients could be indicative of any other medical condition.

South Sudan has a porous border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where many people move across the two countries for business and other activities.

South Sudan suffered Ebola outbreak in 2004 after WHO reported 20 cases including 5 deaths from Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) in Yambio. 

Ebola is a deadly viral disease that causes fever, body aches, diarrhea and sometimes bleeding inside and outside the body.