Dealing with a city Ebola scare that proved negative has revealed some shortcomings in the response, the Calgary region’s medical officer for health said Friday.

But overall, Dr. Richard Musto said he’s pleased with how the case was handled when a patient with Ebola-like symptoms was transferred Wednesday from the Peter Lougheed Centre to the South Health Campus, which is designated to handle the deadly virus.

“The staff were right-on, they did a great job,” said Musto.

On Friday morning, Alberta Health Services announced lab results had ruled out Ebola in the case.

The incident, however, did reveal some shortcomings in communications, he said.

“Communications are always a challenge between all the professionals, the public and clients — we had delays in getting some folks on the phone,” said Musto.

"We can find things that we can do better."

He said officials were also surprised by the amount of specialized clothing and materials impacted by the event.

“With the potential of a communicable disease, we have clothing staff have to don ... that material has to be disposed of in a particular way and we were surprised by the amount of stuff we have to store,” he said.

Sun sources say a 36-year-old pregnant woman who had arrived in Calgary two weeks ago from the west African country of Guinea was the subject of the latest scare — the third such negative in Alberta.

Due to privacy laws, Musto wouldn’t say what illness the patient is known to have.

Information shared by federal officials and those in west African countries means a number of arrivals from that region are under 21-day Ebola surveillance in Alberta, said Musto.

Musto said he doesn’t expect Ebola to reach the province.

“The screening done before leaving those countries is important ... they’re following all the appropriate precautions,” he said.

And he said protocols followed by AHS staff has strengthened the response to other serious illnesses.

“It helps us connect to and be better-integrated with other teams,” he said.

bill.kaufmann@sunmedia.ca



On Twitter: @SUNBillKaufmann

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