Person Who Recently Traveled To West Africa Tests Negative For Ebola
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A person who recently traveled to one of the West African nations facing the Ebola outbreak has tested negative for Ebola at Bellevue Hospital, officials said Tuesday.
As 1010 WINS' Al Jones reported, the 58-year-old doctor had recently returned from Liberia. The man had been complaining of gastrointestinal problems and feeling a bit out of it.
Officials were not taking any chances with the medical scare, CBS2's Tracee Carrasco reported.
Person Who Recently Traveled To West Africa Isolated At Bellevue Hospital
Officials responded to an apartment at around noon on West 70th Street Tuesday in Hazmat gear.
"As soon as I saw them in their Hazmat suits I figured this was probably a case of Ebola," one man said.
Witnesses said several police officers, firefighters, two ambulances, and Hazmat crews were on the scene working to get the patient out of the building.
"The individual did not have contact with Ebola patients while in West Africa, and was asymptomatic upon return. Due to the individual's travel history and current symptoms, the patient has been isolated," officials said.
Later on Tuesday, the Health and Hospitals Corporation announced that test results had come back negative for Ebola.
"An individual who returned to the United States on Sunday from one of the West African nations facing the Ebola epidemic was taken to HHC's Bellevue Hospital Center earlier today. The individual has been blood tested and the results are negative for Ebola. An alternative diagnosis has been confirmed and the individual remains at Bellevue in critical condition," the statement said.
Back in October, Dr. Craig Spencer was diagnosed with Ebola and isolated. He has since recovered.
Earlier this month, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced two people returning from West Africa agreed to a voluntary 21-day home quarantine, but showed no symptoms.
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