A patient at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City is reportedly being tested for a potential case of Ebola. The man, who arrived in the United States following a trip to a West African country, ground zero for the worst outbreak of Ebola in history, is experiencing a high fever and gastrointestinal distress, symptoms not necessarily specific to Ebola. Officials are cautiously optimistic the illness will not be found to be Ebola.

“‘All necessary steps are being taken to ensure the safety of all patients, visitors and staff. We will continue to work closely with federal, state and city health officials to address and monitor this case, keep the community informed and provide the best quality care to all of our patients,'” the hospital wrote in a statement.

Mt. Sinai is following what the Center for Disease Control recommended last week when they sent a Health Alert to doctors and hospitals.

The New York City Department of Health said, ‘After consultation with CDC and Mount Sinai, the Health Department has concluded that the patient is unlikely to have Ebola. Specimens are being tested for common causes of illness and to definitively exclude Ebola.’

Testing for Ebola is done at the CDC. According to a CDC spokesperson testing for Ebola takes 1-2 days after they receive the samples. The primary testing is PCR. This is performed on blood that has been treated to kill and [sic] live virus. So far CDC has tested samples from around 6 people who had symptoms consistent with Ebola and a travel history to the affected region.”

Meanwhile, the man is reportedly being held in strict isolation while the hospital awaits the test results. Let’s hope they do indeed prove negative for Ebola.

While I’m no expert on Ebola, it’s nonetheless worth listing the known symptoms of the disease in order to arm ourselves with facts rather than hyperbole. As reported by the World Health Organization, symptoms are:

• Sudden onset of fever
• Intense weakness
• Muscle pain
• Headache and sore throat
• Followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.
• Laboratory findings include low white blood cell and platelet counts, and elevated liver enzymes.
• The incubation period, or the time interval from infection to onset of symptoms, is from 2 to 21 days. The patients become contagious once they begin to show symptoms. They are not contagious during the incubation period.
• Ebola virus disease infections can only be confirmed through laboratory testing.

So what can you do to prepare yourself for a possible outbreak of the virus? There are lots of great tips out there. ApartmentPrepper.com has some pretty useful ones:

The basics for preparing for a pandemic is similar to preparing for a regional disaster, such as hurricane or ice storm, except for a few added precautions:

• Have at least two weeks worth of stored food that does not need refrigeration. Don’t forget to store enough for kids, pets and other special diets. Increase your supplies if you have the means or the space.
• Store enough water for your family for at least two weeks- the recommended amount is at least one gallon per person per day.
• Have a power outage kit, which means backup lighting, cooking and communications, in case of power disruptions. Your car survival kit should also be fully stocked.
• Have some emergency cash.
• Keep a fully stocked first aid kit, complete with backup prescriptions
• Make sure you also have toilet and sanitation provisions
• Be aware – pay attention to the news, both mainstream and alternate sources.
• Stock up on additional supplies including:
  • N-95 face masks
  • goggles
  • gloves
  • hand soap and antibacterial wipes
  • bleach – a good standby when in comes to disinfect surfaces. According to the Clorox website, use 2 tbsp bleach to one gallon of water, to sanitize a surface. Bleach loses its potency so always mix a fresh batch for cleaning.
  • garbage bags for disposal of waste

You can read Apartment Prepper’s article in-depth here.

Obviously, you always want to avoid contact with bodily secretions of anyone showing any symptoms of illness, because Ebola can mimic other illnesses. Better safe than sorry.

Becoming a compulsive hand-washer is always a good idea, now more than ever.

You should be prepping anyway, and my colleague here at VG has a great prep-start guide to get you started. You can find it here.

Finally, it is important to note that Ebola is reportedly not airborne. WHO states that “it is transmitted through close contact with blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected humans and animals. Infection can also occur if broken skin or mucous membranes of a healthy person come into contact with environments that have become contaminated with an Ebola patient’s infectious fluids such as soiled clothing, bed linen, or used needles.”

You can read more about Ebola here. Yeah, it’s a cliché, but knowledge is indeed power.

One American missionary worker infected with Ebola has already arrived on American soil and is being treated for the disease—he’s improving after being treated with a new serum, used for the first time ever on a human subject—and the second Ebola-stricken worker is scheduled to arrive in the United States today. While the patient being tested at Mt. Sinai is reportedly unlikely to be ill with Ebola, given our leaky-faucet of a southern border—a leaked Customs and Border Protection report says the entire world is taking advantage of our wide-open borders—it is only a matter of time before someone waltzes in carrying the virus directly into our country, setting off a potential pandemic. It’s no coincidence that officials throughout the country are preparing for it; regardless of protestations otherwise, they know the potential is high for an outbreak. It is a frightening scenario, indeed. One that we hope and pray will not come to fruition. But while some experts insist that Ebola presents a very small threat to America and her citizens, we are a globetrotting species, so any threat whatsoever should concern us all. There is presently no known cure for Ebola, nor a vaccine, so it is vitally important to not be paralyzed by fear, but proactively prepare ourselves for the worst case scenario. Because as most of us know by now, we’re on our own, for we have a federal government that couldn’t care less about who’s sneaking into our country, or what they’re bringing in along with them.

UPDATE: Breitbart is reporting there are (at least) six cases, not just one, of potential Ebola being tested across the country on patients who had recently traveled to West Africa, and that (shocker!) the federal government is suppressing it. More updates as the results come in, if ever.

UPDATE 2: Fox News has just reported, as expected, that the Mt. Sinai patient has tested negative for Ebola.