A PATIENT in a Belfast hospital is waiting the outcome of tests which are expected to confirm a case of rabies. The patient, at the Royal Victoria Hospital, tested positive after initial examination.
More detailed procedures were being carried out yesterday. If the tests are positive this will be the first case of the disease in Northern Ireland since 1938.
It is thought the patient had been travelling abroad in an area affected by rabies and began to feel unwell some time after returning home. Health authorities admitted it was "highly likely" the incidence of the human form of the disease would be confirmed.
In a detailed statement the eastern Health and Social Services Board said: "The patient has been treated in the Ulster Hospital and is now receiving treatment in the Royal Victoria Hospital - and poses no risk to other patients or to visitors." It added: "Both hospitals are functioning normally, and there is no risk to the provision of their services. All necessary steps on infection control are in place for the protection of staff."
According to the board, cases of rabies in Northern Ireland remain very rare. Referring generally to the UK as a whole it said: "Since 1946, there have been 23 cases reported to the Health Protection Agency, with all of these having acquired the infection overseas, the most recent being in 2005." Rabies is a notifiable disease in Northern Ireland and there have been no notifications of rabies in humans since 1938.
"The board and its partner agencies are taking national expert advice from the Health Protection Agency and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency.
"The partner agencies working with the board include the Department of Health Social Services and Public Safety, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Communicable Diseases Surveillance Centre (Northern Ireland). The board and its partner agencies are satisfied that all necessary steps to protect public health are in place and again stressed that any risk to the community is negligible."