Zairian Capital Braces for Ebola

KINSHASA, Zaire — With the threat of the deadly Ebola virus looming over this capital of at least 4 million, doctors and nurses created a hospital isolation ward Tuesday for the city’s first possible carriers.

Officials have been struggling to contain the virus within the region surrounding Kikwit, a city of 600,000 where the outbreak began. Eighty-six people had died of the disease as of Tuesday.

The fear that Kinshasa, 370 miles west of Kikwit, was at risk became concrete Monday with reports that a riverboat captain and a nurse who had fled to the capital from Kikwit were suspected carriers. A search for the two was launched, and they were tracked down Tuesday.

The nurse worked at Kikwit General Hospital, where the epidemic began, and fled to her family in Kinshasa, a health official said.

The captain was treated for bloody diarrhea at a Kinshasa hospital and released before doctors realized his symptoms were similar to those of Ebola. Late Tuesday, Health Minister Lonyangela Bopenda said the captain had amoebic dysentery, not Ebola, and was released. He said he did not have any test results on the nurse but that the case was still suspicious.