Ebola patient tests negative
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on November 3, 2014 1:46 PM
DURHAM -- Preliminary tests conducted on a man admitted to Duke Hospital Sunday for displaying "Ebola-like symptoms" have come back negative, state health officials said.
But the man, whose name has not been released, will remain in the hospital until he passes an additional test in 72 hours to confirm the results, officials said.
The man arrived in the United States from Liberia on Friday, entering the country through Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.
He rode a bus from the airport to Durham Saturday and then returned home to Person County that same day, state health officials said. He showed no signs of a fever at that time, officials said.
The man detected the fever himself during self-monitoring on Sunday.
Public health officials said the patient, described only as a male, was being monitored Sunday for health conditions, including Ebola. They emphasized that he had no known exposure to Ebola and had not been diagnosed with the potentially fatal disease, which has caused thousands of deaths in Africa.
The patient, health officials said, will remain in isolation at Duke Hospital -- and staff currently taking care of him will have no contact with other patients during that time, hospital officials said.
Contact tracing for those whom the patient might have had contact with is under way, and individuals who might have come into contact with the man once symptoms were present are being monitored by their local health departments.