Ebola Scare in Brazil: Two Suspected Cases Test Negative

Two suspected cases of Ebola in Brazil have been cleared after both patients tested negative for the virus, local health authorities confirmed.

Sao Paulo health officials said a 37-year-old man who had traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of the outbreak, tested positive for meningitis instead. Another patient in Rio de Janeiro, who had recently returned from Uganda, tested positive for malaria.

Both cases would have marked the first infections outside Africa since the outbreak began. The current outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain, has no proven vaccine and kills about one-third of those infected. The DR Congo has reported more than 1,000 suspected cases and at least 246 deaths. Uganda has confirmed nine cases and one death.