On 5 October 2014, rumors of a suspected case of Ebola in Kansas City, Missouri spread on the internet despite a low
probability the patient involved had been exposed to the virus.
"The likelihood we think is very low. No one has caught Ebola from somebody else in this country. It has not spread anywhere in this country," said
"This person was supposedly in Nigeria and had come here from there but we have no evidence that they were actually where any of the other cases were," Archer said. The patient's only Ebola-like symptom was a
Ebola was not suspected at the time of the patient's initial treatment at the facility, but reports still circulated of Ebola quarantines at a local apartment building and the hospital to which the patient had been transported:
At about 9:30 Saturday night, a Kansas City apartment building was sealed off as a seriously ill person was taken to Research Medical Center for treatment. A source close to the situation said "all or part of the medical facility was then quarantined."
Later the same day, public health officials in Kansas City issued a statement to combat rumors of an Ebola case in the area:
We have seen online reports that a patient at Research Medical Center is suspected of having Ebola. These reports are inaccurate. Research Medical Center is caring for a patient who presented to our Brookside Campus emergency department, however, the patient does not have the symptom profile of Ebola.
Local health department spokesman Jeff Hershberger commented on the Ebola panic in Kansas City:
There was a social media frenzy about the possibility of Ebola in Kansas City ... We're still exploring how this happened.
Hershberger indicated that the Ebola fears and subsequent social media panic may have originated with calls from worried neighbors to media sources. As health officials indicated, the patient in Kansas City never fit the symptom profile for Ebola infection.
In a completely unrelated incident that occurred more than a week after the rumor discussed above originated, Kansas City hospital officials announced on
Officials at the University of Kansas Hospital say a man being treated in isolation is considered at low to moderate risk of having contracted the Ebola virus.
Chief medical officer Dr. Lee Norman says the patient came to the hospital with significant weakness and diarrhea. The man also said he had previously had a fever.
But Norman also said it was encouraging that the man did not have a fever nor internal
The man worked recently as a medic on a commercial ship off Africa's west coast. Norman said he had been exposed to typhoid, but that it's unknown if he was also exposed to Ebola.
CDC officials confirm "Tests are underway to determine a diagnosis. While the hospital cannot rule out Ebola at this time,
Last updated: 13 October 2014
 | Sources: |
Blavley, Alan and Tim Engle. "Despite No Ebola Case in Kansas City, the Rumor Goes Viral."
Kansas City Star. 6 October 2014. Hanchard, Jenna and Garrett Haake. "Kansas City Health Department Monitoring Person with Concerning Symptoms." KSHB. 5 October 2014. Heine, Debra. "Ebola Scare in Kansas City." Breitbart. 5 October 2014. Oberholtz, Chris and Laura McCallister. "Hospital: Man Not Being Treated for Ebola in Kansas City." KCTV [Kansas City]. 5 October 2014. Associated Press. "Ebola Patient 'Possible' in Kansas City Metro."
KSNW-TV [Wichita, KS]. 13 October 2014.