The health care worker aboard a Carnival Cruise Lines ship who was being monitored for signs of Ebola passed a blood test and was allowed to leave with other passengers when the ship docked Sunday in Texas, health officials said.
"We are able to confirm that the (Ebola) test was negative," Galveston County Health Authority spokesman Kurt Koopman said in an email to USA TODAY.
The woman had handled specimens from the nation's first confirmed Ebola patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, who died Oct. 8 at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.
"The Galveston County Health Authority has made the assessment that there is no evidence of a public health threat to cruise passengers or to Galveston County. The passenger and her travel partner have been allowed to disembark without restrictions," county health officials said in a statement.
The woman, who has not been named, has shown no signs of the virus and was considered asymptomatic, the Coast Guard had said. She had been voluntarily isolated on her cruise ship, Carnival Magic.
A Coast Guard helicopter had flown to the ship Saturday and received samples from health care worker for testing in Austin.
"We anticipate the results of the test will indicate she is not showing any symptoms and the test would be negative," Coast Guard officials had said in a statement.
From USATODAY.COM
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment