Italy’s health ministry says a nurse who came to Italy from Sierra Leone last week has tested positive for the Ebola virus.
The ministry said a blood sample was sent to Rome for testing Tuesday from Sardinia, where the nurse had arrived on May 8.
The nurse, who wasn’t identified to protect his privacy, worked for the non-governmental aid group Emergency in Sierra Leone, one of the African countries hardest hit by often-fatal Ebola.
The ministry said the nurse noticed the first symptoms on Sunday evening and was admitted to the infectious disease ward of Sassari hospital. He will soon be transferred to Rome’s Spallanzani infectious disease hospital, which last year successfully treated an Italian doctor who contracted Ebola after working in Sierra Leone, also for Emergency.
