World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan (Photo : Reuters/ Pierre Albouy)
The fear of the Ebola virus threatening Santa Barbara County residents is gone as a woman who was placed under close monitoring tested negative, according to health officials.
On Sunday, LA Times reported the case of a potential infection of the virus on a woman flown from the county to an LA-based hospital.
To protect the driver and the health care personnel from possible exposure, a specially designed ambulance was prepared as the patient, whose name has not been disclosed, was transported.
The woman was said to have come from a trip overseas and as part of the protocol for travelers from Ebola-stricken countries such as Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
People who arrive from places with Ebola epidemics undergo a 21-day screening program. It was during the process that the alleged woman developed symptoms and a fever that prompted health officials to have her tested.
"The individual will remain in the hospital until results of testing are completed," said Santa Barbara County Public Health Department Spokeswoman Susan Klein-Rothschild Sunday.
Officials released a statement on Monday that said, "(t)est results and clinical evaluation confirm the patient does NOT have Ebola."
With the recent developments, the woman will be soon sent home although no specific time was mentioned.
Meanwhile, Dr. Charity Dean, also with the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department, said the news was a big relief for the patient.
"You can imagine there was a fair amount of anxiety involved any time someone who's being monitored for Ebola starts to show any kind of symptoms or illness," said the medical practitioner.
A report from ABC7 mentioned that the woman was with the health department's team who looks into travelers who have gone to Ebola stricken countries as well.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a data stating there have already been 24,788 cases of Ebola with a death toll 10,251 in the three countries with widely spread of the epidemic.
In the United States, there was a report of one death from the four cases while in Nigeria, eight people have already died out of the 20 people with Ebola.
