Ebola ruled out in Saudi man’s death

August 10, 2014

Riyadh, Aug 10: The Ebola virus was not the cause of death of Saudi citizen Ibrahim Al-Zahrani, who died in Jeddah on Wednesday, the Health Ministry and World Health Organization (WHO) have announced.

Preliminary post-mortem examination carried out on the body confirmed the findings, according to Rana Saydalani, an official spokesman from the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.

“We are coordinating with regional health ministries to review any suspected case of infection,” she said.

“A sample has also been sent to a German laboratory for further testing.”

Al-Zahrani, a businessman in his 40s, died at King Fahd Hospital, where he was admitted on Monday night after showing symptoms of viral hemorrhagic fever.

Health Ministry spokesman Khalid Mirghalani confirmed the report after tests had been conducted at the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, which has a special laboratory for testing the most dangerous of microbes. “Tests revealed that Ebola virus was not the cause of this patient’s illness,” he said.

The CDC is conducting additional tests to confirm the negative Ebola finding and will carry out more advanced tests to identify what kind of virus had afflicted the patient.

Additional Ebola tests will also be conducted on samples that have been sent to another international reference laboratory in Hamburg, Germany.

“The results of these tests will be released to the public once they are complete,” said Mirghalani.

The statement added that it would adopt strict quarantine measures if any suspected cases surface.

A rapid response team at the ministry’s disease control center, meanwhile, is conducting Kingdom-wide around-the-clock surveillance for contagious diseases.

The patient became symptomatic after traveling to a country that had been one of the hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, where more than 960 people have died from the disease.

Al-Zahrani was identified as a suspected Ebola case because of his symptoms and travel history and was transferred to a specialized hospital in Jeddah, after which the WHO and general public were notified.

He died on Wednesday while being treated in quarantine.

“The Health Ministry continues to monitor individuals who came into contact with the patient while he was exhibiting symptoms of viral hemorrhagic fever as a precautionary measure,” he said.

“This was the only suspected Ebola case identified in the Kingdom.” The ministry issued an advisory on Wednesday urging Saudi citizens and residents to postpone travel to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia until further notice.

In addition, the Kingdom stopped issuing visas to Umrah and Haj pilgrims from these countries as a precautionary measure.

Health teams are also closely monitoring incoming passengers at international airports and other entry points, the statement said.

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Syrian Town erupts after Israeli forces enter Beit Jinn; heavy casualties reported

News Network

November 28,2025

Several Syrians were killed and more than two dozen others injured in Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Damascus, amid intensified incursions by the occupying regime since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad and the rise of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rule.

Syrian state TV reported that the casualties occurred during an overnight Israeli assault involving helicopters and drones on the town of Beit Jinn in the Damascus countryside. The attack followed an Israeli military unit’s entry into the town, where they were surrounded by local residents, leading to gunfire and direct confrontations.

According to the report, “The occupation army’s helicopters and artillery shelled Beit Jinn, located at the foothills of Mount Hermon, resulting in 13 martyrs and 25 injured civilians.” The broadcaster did not specify the full extent of damage.

Al-Ikhbariyah Syria confirmed that the shelling coincided with Israeli soldiers entering Beit Jinn, while artillery pounded surrounding areas. The broadcaster stated that the escalation began after local residents clashed with an Israeli patrol that had infiltrated the southern town and “kidnapped” three young men.

Following a two-hour exchange of heavy fire, Israeli forces withdrew and repositioned on the hill of Butt al-Warda at the town’s outskirts.

Israeli media acknowledged that six soldiers were wounded in the clashes—three of them seriously—describing the confrontation as a “sudden ambush” that forced the deployment of reserve units and air support to secure an exit route. No further details were provided.

The aggression has fueled renewed displacement from Beit Jinn, with residents fleeing to nearby villages amid increasingly frequent Israeli attacks.

The raid came just a day after Israeli troops carried out another ground incursion into Umm al-Luqas village in Quneitra province. According to SANA, an Israeli unit in four vehicles entered the village, raided several homes, and later withdrew.

Syria condemned the repeated incursions as violations of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and UN resolutions, urging the international community to enforce compliance and pressure Israel to halt its operations and withdraw fully.

Israel has expanded its attacks across Syrian territory following the collapse of the Assad government last year. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly instructed his forces to push deeper into Syrian territory and seize strategic positions.

Meanwhile, critics say the HTS-led interim government’s inaction and growing normalization gestures toward Israel have emboldened Tel Aviv to intensify its military operations. HTS, formerly linked to al-Qaeda, seized control of Damascus last December, formally ending Assad’s rule.

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