A California patient who recently returned from West Africa has tested negative for the Ebola virus, the state Health Department announced Thursday night, reassuring residents that there are no confirmed cases of the virulent virus in the state.
Test results on the patient, who hasn't been identified, were delivered Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Ron Chapman, director of the Health Department, said at a news conference. Officials haven't said what prompted them to test and admit the patient at Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center, and they gave no other details because of health care privacy laws. The Health Department had previously described the patient as low-risk.
Two confirmed U.S. Ebola patients, medical missionaries Nancy Writebol and Dr. Kent Brantly, were released infection-free from Emory University Hospital in Atlanta after becoming the first people ever to receive an experimental drug called ZMapp.
IN-DEPTH
- What Cured Ebola Patients Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol?
- Docs Declare Brantly and Writebol No Risk to Public
SOCIAL
— M. Alex Johnson