Ebola Fears in Brazil Quelled: Tests Negative

Suspected Ebola cases in Brazil have been cleared after both individuals tested negative for the virus. Health authorities had been monitoring two patients in Brazil's largest cities following their return from African nations, as they presented with symptoms.

In São Paulo, a 37-year-old man who traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of the outbreak, was confirmed to not have Ebola; he tested positive for meningitis. Separately, a Belgian man in Rio de Janeiro, who had recently visited Uganda, also tested negative for Ebola but was diagnosed with malaria.

These negative results mean Brazil has avoided its first Ebola infections outside Africa since the outbreak's inception. The current Ebola outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain, has led to over 1,000 suspected cases and at least 246 fatalities in DR Congo's Ituri, North, and South Kivu provinces. Uganda has recorded nine confirmed cases and one death.

Developing treatments for the Bundibugyo strain, which lacks a proven vaccine, are underway by institutions including the International Aids Vaccine Initiative, the University of Oxford, and Moderna. Ebola viruses typically infect animals like fruit bats, but human outbreaks can occur through contact with infected animals. The virus spreads via direct contact with bodily fluids of infected individuals.