California Patient Tests Negative For Ebola Virus At Sacramento Hospital

California Patient Doesn't Have Ebola

A patient at a Sacramento hospital tested for the Ebola virus does not have the disease, health officials announced on Thursday night.

“We are pleased with the negative outcome of the Ebola test and wish the patient a speedy recovery,” Dr. Ron Chapman, director of the California Department of Public Health, said in a news release. “The case in Sacramento County demonstrates that the system is working. This patient was quickly identified, appropriate infection control procedures were implemented and public health authorities were notified.”

The patient, who returned to California earlier this month after visiting West Africa, had been placed in isolation while tests were conducted.

He or she has not been identified.

Earlier Thursday, it was confirmed that a New Mexico patient tested for the virus does not have the disease. She had been teaching in Sierra Leone.

Also on Thursday, Dr. Kent Brantly, who contracted the disease while working with patients in Africa, was released from the Atlanta hospital where he had been undergoing treatment. Nancy Writebol, a missionary treated for the disease at the same hospital, was released on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization announced that the death toll in the current outbreak had reached 1,350 cases in which the disease is either confirmed, probable or suspected. The agency also said that there are 2,473 illnesses in which the disease is either confirmed, probable or suspected.

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