New Jersey Health Officials: Woman Who Was Sick On Plane At Newark Did Not Have Ebola
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A woman who was hospitalized after recent travels from an Ebola-affected country did not have the virus, officials told Tuesday evening.
The 35-year-old woman was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center after arriving at Newark Liberty International Airport on a United Airlines flight from Brussels, Belgium around 1 p.m. Monday.
Health Officials Closely Monitor Woman Who Recently Traveled From Ebola-Affected Country
She served as a medical worker dealing with Ebola-infected patients in Sierra Leone in West Africa and became sick on the flight with a high fever and vomiting, 1010 WINS' Derricke Dennis reported.
The patient was evaluated overnight for a gastrointestinal illness, and was determined not to have Ebola, the New Jersey Health Department said.
The woman also did not have any contact with an Ebola patient in the past 21 days, and thus, does not need to be quarantined, the department said. But like all travelers returning from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the woman will be monitored for 21 days.
Other passengers on the flight posted pictures to Twitter of health officials boarding the plane in full protective medical gear. The woman was escorted off the plane and those who remained were asked to fill out health forms, CBS2's Valerie Castro reported.
Passengers on the flight were initially told to self-monitor and make themselves available for authorities to get in touch with them over the next three weeks, Dennis reported.
Hackensack University Medical Center is one of three hospitals in New Jersey authorized to isolate and test possible Ebola patients.
Last October, New Jersey health officials treated nurse Kaci Hickox, who was kept under hospital quarantine for four days after treating patients in Sierra Leone.
Hickox criticized Gov. Chris Christie's decision to keep her in isolation after she tested negative for Ebola.
