Brazil monitors 2 patients for possible Ebola infection in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro

Health authorities in Brazil said on Sunday that they are monitoring two patients for possible Ebola infection in the country's two major cities: São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. São Paulo's state government notified that a 37-year-old man from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) "exhibited symptoms such as fever".

Meanwhile, in Rio, the state's health department said that it has activated safety protocol after a Belgian man who arrived from Uganda showed "viral symptoms such as cough, chills and diarrhoea". As of now, out of the two patients, one has been tested negative.

If any of the cases are confirmed to be Ebola cases, then it would be the first infection to be reported outside Africa since the outbreak, which has taken over DR Congo. It is pertient to note that there are now 1,000 suspected Ebola cases in DR Congo, with at least 246 deaths.  Meanwhile, Uganda reported nine confirmed cases and one death as of now.

More from World

Why it's concerning

The current outbreak of Ebola in Africa has been caused by a rare strain of the virus, known as Bundibugyo. The disease has no proven vaccine and kills about a third of those infected. While two patients in Brazil are still being monitored, they have already been diagnosed with other conditions.

In São Paulo, the man from DR Congo tested positive for meningitis and is in a serious condition, while in Rio, the Belgian patient tested positive for malaria. However, the respective diagnosis does not rule out the possibility of them also having Ebola.

The virus in question normally infects animals, typically fruit bats, but outbreaks among humans can sometimes start when people eat or handle infected animals. Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluid of an infected person, including sweat, saliva, blood, semen, excrement, urine and vomit.