Since then, doctors have been re-testing the center. Yarou learned of his diagnosis last Tuesday after undergoing tests at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
The rest of the team was subsequently checked for the virus, with all tests coming back negative.
The team "is more worried about me because they love me so much," Yarou said. "They told me I'm going to be fine."
Yarou said he was vaccinated for hepatitis B, a liver disease prevalent in Africa, at his home in Benin. He has been vaccinated every four years since. His latest vaccination was last year.
"I'm kind of lost," said Yarou, who played in the team's first two games of the season. "I feel like I don't really know what is going on."
Though Yarou has yet to exhibit any hepatitis symptoms, Cataldo Doria, director of the division of transplantation in the department of surgery at Thomas Jefferson Hospital, said that was common in the early stages of the disease. Doria is not directly involved with the case.
"Hepatitis B is a very silent virus," he said, "and unfortunately when you get signs or symptoms, many times you are in a very advanced stage of the disease."
According to the World Health Organization's Web site, about 350 million people worldwide live with "chronic infection" from hepatitis B.
The viral infection is contracted through exposure to infectious blood or body fluids and is generally contracted through birth, sexual contact, or use of a contaminated needle.
"Every couple of weeks they'll test him," Wright said. "It's got to come down to zero before he can play." Yarou said no one in his family had the disease.
Neither Wright nor Yarou knows how long the center will be out. "The only numbers I've heard are a possible four to six months," Wright said.
Doria said the disease generally stays with a person throughout his life. But, with medication, it can subside to the point where it is nearly undetectable, he said.
"Once the disease subsides, he should go back and play," Doria said, "so this kid should not be treated like someone who is infectious. And if the virus is treated properly, I don't see why he can't go back and play basketball."
With Yarou out indefinitely, Wright will look to forwards Maurice Sutton and Isaiah Armwood to contribute in the rotation.
"I wanted to redshirt Isaiah, but I can't," Wright said.
Yarou is still eligible to be redshirted. Given the possibility of his return late in the season after months without practicing with the rest of the team, Wright will face a difficult decision.
The soft-spoken center who was one of the top recruits in the country just wants to get back on the court as soon as possible.
"I just want to get better," he said.
