The Health Ministry has said the condition of GN, 46, an Indonesian migrant worker from Kediri, East Java, who is suspected of having contracted Ebola and is receiving intensive medical treatment at Pare Hospital, is getting better and the patient is in a stable condition.

'We will continue to monitor the patient's condition,' the ministry's director general of disease control and environmental health, HM Subuh, said on Saturday.

GN was suspected of having Ebola after he fell sick after returning from Liberia, a country where he had worked and which is declared an Ebola endemic region.

On Oct. 26, as many as 28 Indonesian migrant workers who had just finished their work contracts in Liberia, including GN and two other workers who are also from Kediri, arrived in Jakarta.

Six days prior to their departure to Indonesia, GN and his friends underwent a health quarantine procedure in Liberia.

Shortly after they arrived at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, the workers again underwent a string of quarantine procedures in an effort to prevent the spread of Ebola, which has been a public health concern in West Africa. After undergoing a 7-day monitoring procedure, they were allowed to return to their hometowns.

However, on Oct. 28 GN began to feel throat pain when swallowing. Two days later, GN had a medical check-up at Bendo community health center (puskesmas) in Kediri district, as he was suffering from a high fever, swallowing pain, joint pain and a cough.

'GN was directly referred to Pare Hospital and was diagnosed with an acute febrile illness, particularly paryngitis acute,' said the Health Ministry in a statement.

The hospital later decided to treat GN in an isolation room, concerned that he had recently returned from an Ebola endemic country, Liberia.

Although he was reported to have suffered a high fever of up to 38.6 degrees Celsius, GN did not show other Ebola-like clinical symptoms, such as bleeding and vomiting.

Subuh said GN's health observation had been conducted for 11 out of the 21 days planned.

'On Saturday morning, the patient's body temperature was 37.3 degrees Celsius and he reported to be no longer suffering swallowing pain. His condition is improving,' he said.

The Health Ministry took GN's blood sample and sent it to Jakarta for a laboratory test.

'We are still waiting for the results of the lab test,' said the official. (ebf)(+++)