Ebola in Michigan?

A suspected case of Ebola in Michigan....turned out to be a false alarm.

MLive.com is reporting that officials in Kent County along with those at Spectrum Health were quick to quell reports out of Grand Rapids that a patient who had a high fever from a trip abroad was carrying the virus.  High fever is one of the symptoms of Ebola.

"Within 20 minutes of the call, a second call came in, saying the person was not on the mainland and not in a country where cases of Ebola were found," said Lisa LaPlante, Kent County Health Department spokesperson.

The patient, who's identity was withheld for security reasons, did not meet the criteria for testing and was not tested for Ebola, she added.  The patient was diagnosed with another illness.

The response here was much different than in Texas, when Thomas Eric Duncan was given only antibiotics then sent home even after telling hospital officials he'd been to infected regions of Africa.

Duncan remains in critical condition.  Reports now he is suffering from kidney failure and is too weak to take experimental drugs to fight the disease.

Join Jo Anne Paul weekdays for news updates on 99.1 WFMK-FM, 100.7 WITL-FM and 1240 WJIM-AM and the other stations of the Michigan Talk Network
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