The Vietnamese man suspected of having Ebola after returning to Vietnam from Guinea a week ago and coming down with a high fever has been confirmed as having malaria, health authorities reported on Sunday.

>> ‘Possible Ebola patient’ hospitalized in central Vietnam >> Hanoi sets up five fast response teams to combat Ebola >> Vietnam has four health facilities capable of Ebola testing >> Vietnam to carry out anti-Ebola drill in Hanoi this week >> Vietnam’s health ministry releases guidelines for Ebola treatment The second real-time PRC test performed by the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology showed that 26-year-old Chu Van Chung tested negative for the deadly Ebola virus, said Dr. Ngo Thi Kim Yen, deputy director of the Health Department of the central city of Da Nang. Chung only had malaria, as shown in the results of a medical test announced late on November 1, Dr. Yen said.  Before returning to Vietnam, Chu had worked in Guinea for two years. He departed from the country five days ago and traveled through Morocco and Qatar before arriving in Vietnam at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat airport on October 28. On October 31, Chung flew from HCMC to Da Nang City and stayed in a hotel on Le Dinh Duong Street. A day later, Chung was taken to the Hoan My Hospital at 10:30 am with a high fever, up to 40 degrees C, and a headache. That afternoon, Chung was taken to the Da Nang Hospital, where he, as a suspected Ebola patient, was isolated and received special medical attention in accordance with guidelines from the Ministry of Health on diagnosis, prevention and treatment of the EVD. The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Friday that there have been 13,567 reported Ebola cases in eight countries since the outbreak began in March in Guinea. There have been 4,951 reported deaths from the disease. The latest figures show that Liberia has 2,413 deaths from 6,535 cases of Ebola; Sierra Leone has 1,510 dead out of 5,338 reported cases; and Guinea has 1,018 deaths from 1,667 cases. EVD is highly dangerous and is able to kill up to 90 percent of infected people. Ebola is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, bodily fluids and tissues of infected animals or people. As a severe acute viral illness, EVD is often characterized by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat, according to the WHO. Vietnam now has four laboratories that are qualified to conduct tests to detect the Ebola virus, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health. These laboratories, which have been recognized by the WHO, are located at the Central Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute, the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute, the Central Tropical Diseases Hospital and the HCMC Tropical Diseases Hospital, the ministry’s Preventive Health Department said on Monday. The ministry said it has set up a screening process for  Ebola based on instructions from the WHO and the US’s Centers for Disease Prevention and Control.

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