Rambam hospital to set up quarantined Ebola clinic in Haifa

300 medical staff at Rambam Medical Center are being trained on how to treat Ebola patients.

Nurse Moise Vaghemi tends to a patient who is suspected to be suffering from Ebola, inside the Biosecure Emergency Care Unit (CUBE) at an Ebola treatment centre (ETC) in Katwa, near Butembo, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, October 3, 2019. (photo credit: REUTERS/ZOHRA BENSEMRA)
Nurse Moise Vaghemi tends to a patient who is suspected to be suffering from Ebola, inside the Biosecure Emergency Care Unit (CUBE) at an Ebola treatment centre (ETC) in Katwa, near Butembo, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, October 3, 2019.
(photo credit: REUTERS/ZOHRA BENSEMRA)

The Rambam Medical Center in Haifa began setting up a quarantined clinic on Sunday for Israelis suspected of being exposed to the Ebola virus, according to KAN news.

The clinic will be set up in an isolated, underground parking lot. 300 medical staff members are being trained on how to treat Ebola patients.

The clinic will be able to treat as many as three active patients, although it is unlikely that there will be that many patients, according deputy director of Rambam Medical Center, Dr. Avi Weissman.

In recent weeks, a number of Israelis returned from Uganda and were quarantined after not feeling well, although all of them tested negative for the virus.

In September, the Health Ministry issued a travel warning to Uganda following an Ebola outbreak in the country.

 A person dressed in ebola protective apparel is seen inside an ebola care facility at the Bwera general hospital near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in Bwera (credit: REUTERS)
A person dressed in ebola protective apparel is seen inside an ebola care facility at the Bwera general hospital near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in Bwera (credit: REUTERS)

The virus is transmitted through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of patients or from the secretions of animals infected with the disease.

The incubation period of the disease is up to 21 days and symptoms include headaches, fatigue, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and unexplained bleeding.

Ebola outbreak in Uganda spreads to east of country

On Sunday, Uganda's health minister stated that an Ebola case has been confirmed in Jinja in eastern Uganda, the first time the outbreak has spread to a new region of the country from central Uganda where cases have been confined so far.

Authorities have been struggling to contain the highly infectious and deadly hemorrhagic fever since the epidemic was declared on Sept. 20.

Uganda has so far recorded a total of 135 confirmed cases and 53 deaths, according to the health ministry.


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Reuters contributed to this report.