On Monday night, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that the patient who was brought to the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami had tested negative for the Ebola virus.
Jennifer Piedra, a spokeswoman for the Jackson Health Department said that the patient was initially brought in because of symptoms that were linked with the deadly disease. "Last week, a Jackson Health System patient tested negative for the Ebola virus. The patient had shown some symptoms associated with the disease and was tested in an abundance of caution. All of our community's precautionary measures were taken, multiple agencies worked effectively in partnership, and we demonstrated that we are ready in the unlikely event that this disease is detected in Miami-Dade County. Out of respect for patient privacy, we are not providing any additional details."
This latest information comes after what appears to be a series of false alarms across the country where patients have also been subjected to testing for the virus and came out negative in California, New York, and New Mexico. So far, there are no confirmed Ebola cases in the United States, apart from the American health workers who were evacuated back into the country to receive treatment after they contracted the virus in West Africa where it has already affected more than 2,000 people and resulted in more than 1,800 deaths. Dr. Kent Brantley and Nancy Writebol received treatment at the Emory University Hospital and were released last month after being treated with the experimental drug ZMapp. Currently, Dr. Richard Sacra is in a biocontainment patient care unit at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha where he is receiving treatment for the virus as well. Doctors have confirmed that Dr. Sacra has been responding positively to treatment and is now in better shape.
The Ebola virus is spread via contact with an infected person's blood or other bodily fluids.