Brazil tests man for Ebola; ministry says in 'good shape'

By Anthony Boadle and Pedro Fonseca BRASILIA/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Doctors in Brazil were testing a West African man for Ebola on Friday, although the health ministry said the patient was "in good shape" and his slight fever has subsided. Health Minister Arthur Chioro said the 47-year-old man arrived in Brazil on Sept. 19 from Guinea, one of three impoverished countries, along with Liberia and Sierra Leone, at the heart of an outbreak that has killed nearly 4,000 people since March. Chioro noted that the patient had been in Brazil for the maximum incubation period for the Ebola virus of 21 days. The result of a test for the virus should be available by early Saturday, he said. "We could not rule out (Ebola), even though it had been 20 days, given the fever and the patient's origin," Chioro told journalists in Brasilia. He said the patient was "in good shape" and did not have any other symptoms. "No diarrhea, vomiting or other secretions," said Chioro. Ebola causes hemorrhagic fever, with symptoms including vomiting and diarrhea, and spreads through direct contact with body fluids. No cases have been reported in Latin America. The cases of a Liberian man who died after traveling to the United States and a Spanish nurse infected in Madrid after treating a priest who died, have put authorities on the alert globally for the disease spreading outside of West Africa. The patient, whose name officials declined to provide, arrived in Brazil after a layover in Morocco. He described himself as a political refugee, Chioro said. He went to an emergency room in the southern state of Parana on Thursday complaining of a fever, sore throat and a cough. Although the patient had only a slightly elevated temperature, he was kept in total isolation and transferred to a healthcare facility in Rio de Janeiro early Friday, according to a health ministry statement. Officials temporarily quarantined about 60 people who were in the same emergency room as the patient in the city of Cascavel in Parana state. After testing, the hospital personnel and patients were considered to be at low risk for infection. They were released Friday and will be monitored for 21 days. (Additional reporting by Brad Haynes and Caroline Stauffer in Sao Paulo; Editing by Brian Winter and Grant McCool)