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Man Hospitalized With Severe Illness In Rahway, N.J. After Visiting Nigeria

RAHWAY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A man who traveled to Nigeria was being treated at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Rahway, New Jersey Friday evening, after suffering from a fever and vomiting.

The hospital told CBS 2 "all proper precautions are being taken" for the patient and Centers for Disease Control guidelines were being followed – including "droplet precautions" that require a patient with a disease communicable by droplets to be put in an exam room behind a closed door or given a face mask.

The New Jersey State Department of Health has been informed, the hospital said.

The hospital did not make any mention of the Ebola virus, which has seen its largest outbreak in history in recent months in West Africa. Nigeria is one of several countries where the virus has struck.

Last month, Eric Silverman of Brooklyn was quarantined for three days at Mount Sinai Hospital in East Harlem, amid fears that he might be suffering from the Ebola virus.

Because the flulike symptoms of malaria resemble Ebola, and because the Brooklyn native had just returned from a humanitarian aid trip to Sierra Leone where the virus is spreading, doctors quarantined him for 72 hours at Mount Sinai.

CDC tests concluded that Silverman did not have Ebola, and told CBS 2 he was believed actually to have been suffering from malaria.

There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola, but a vaccine was set to begin human trials this month. So far, the vaccine has shown success in monkeys.

For more information on Ebola from the CDC, click here.

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