Suspected Ebola patient hospitalized in Denmark

COPENHAGEN - One person has been hospitalized at Hvidovre Hospital in Copenhagen for observation with suspected Ebola infection, sources with the hospital confirmed to Xinhua on Thursday.

Hvidovre Hospital is fully prepared to receive and treat Ebola patients, according to the hospital's deputy director Peter C. Mogensen.

"The patient is treated in the same manner as if the person had Ebola. This means isolation and protection of the staff," Mogensen said.

The Danish Health and Medicines Authority said the patient's blood sample will be analyzed at the State Serum Institute (SSI) and the results are expected to be available later Thursday.

The patient, who is a member of the aid group Doctors Without Borders, returned from West Africa recently with fever symptoms, according to the Danish news agency Ritzau.

If confirmed, it would be the first Ebola case reported in Denmark.

Since March this year, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has killed more than 4,000 people, and there has been confirmed or suspected cases of Ebola in the United States, Spain, Germany and Norway after people have returned from affected countries in Africa.

The Ebola virus can cause fever, bleeding, vomiting and diarrhea, and spread through contact with bodily fluids.