Penza, 28 October 2014. PenzaNews. The first Penza region patient with a suspected case of Ebola who was hospitalized this Monday, October 27, arrived to the city from Nigeria on October 17 to study in the Belinsky Pedagogical Institute of the Penza State University.

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“We received a young man with high temperature. Seeing that he arrived from an endemic region and taking into account the recent infection threats, we took all the necessary diagnosis measures according to the developed guidelines. The prophylactic program is underway. We are not yet saying there is any illness. We are conducting the prophylactic program according to the official guidelines we had received. We took the samples and sent them away in order to establish the diagnosis,” said Sergey Rybalkin, the chief medical officer of the medical care center, informed the press.

He added that the hospitalized patient is currently in satisfactory condition.

“The people whom he contacted with have been isolated,” the chief medical officer stressed.

Meanwhile, Valentina Calinkina, chief epidemiologist of the Penza region, pointed out that the diagnosis has not yet been proven.

“We have not proven the case yet and are waiting for the lab results. We are obliged to conduct all the measures according to the regulations. His condition has improved, and we are not currently in a position to say he has Ebola or any other hemorrhagic fever. We are waiting for the lab results. They will be ready on Wednesday or Thursday. The patient had only high temperature and nothing else,” she explained.

Sergei Rybalkin also added that all the students arriving to Penza region from endemic countries are currently being temporarily quarantined.

Speaking of medical workers, he clarified that the ER specialists who brought the patient to the hospital have been quarantined, while the special medical care center staff wore special protection suits during the contacts with the Nigerian student.