Suspected Ebola patient isolated in California hospital

A person suspected of contracting the Ebola virus is in isolation at a medical centre in California.

University of California Davis Medical Center spokeswoman Dorsey Griffith said the patient was transferred to the hospital from Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento.

The spokeswoman added she did not know if the patient had recently travelled to West Africa where the virus has a high concentration.

The patient had exhibited “systems consistent with infection”, but is considered a “low-risk” to others.

A total of 8,818 people have died from the Ebola virus since last year, according to the World Health Organization.

Most deaths have occurred in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, with a total of 22,101 known cases worldwide, including one confirmed case in the UK and four in the US.

Two patients died in the US last year after contracting the disease in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

A slew of suspected cases in California have turned out to be false alarms.

The Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is transmitted to people from wild animals and is spread through human-to-human transmission, according to the World Health Organization.

There is no vaccine.