TOKYO, November 8 (RIA Novosti) — Two people who were hospitalized in Japan on Ebola suspicion on Friday, tested negative for the deadly virus disease, Japan’s Health Ministry said Saturday.
According to the Ministry, the 60-year-old Japanese man came who came back to Japan on November 4 after spending about a month in Liberia was hospitalized Friday on Ebola suspicions but tested negative. Another patient, a 20-year-old woman from Guinea came to Japan on Friday and was hospitalized straight from the airport due to fever. The test had shown that the woman had malaria.
Being an island state, Japan has made Ebola prevention its priority. The prevention measures introduced in the country include the mandatory survey conducted by the health authorities at all its 30 international airports. The survey contains questions about travelers' recent journeys to West Africa and is being introduced for all visitors to the country.
On Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga announced that Japan will allocate additional $100 million to help fight the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa. The funds will come on top of the $40 million announced by Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in September.
The current Ebola epidemic started in Guinea in December 2013 and later spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal, however, Senegal and Nigeria have recently been declared free of Ebola by the World Health Organization (WHO). Ebola cases have also been registered in the United States and Europe.
According to the most recent estimates from the WHO, the Ebola outbreak has claimed 4,818 lives.
