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Bellevue patient tests negative for Ebola, health officials say

Bellevue Hospital has been designated for handling patients suspected of having Ebola.
Bellevue Hospital has been designated for handling patients suspected of having Ebola. Photo Credit: Tinder

New York City health officials said Wednesday that test results for Ebola came back negative for an individual at Bellevue Hospital.

The person, who was not identified in a news release, had no contact with Ebola patients in West Africa, the Health Department said on Tuesday. However, the health officials said the person’s travel history and symptoms warranted testing for Ebola.

The city is actively monitoring 223 people, travelers who have arrived to the city over the past 21 days from any of four countries with high rates of Ebola infections.

In October, Dr. Craig Spencer, a New York physician who had returned from Guinea where he worked with Ebola patients, was diagnosed with the virus and received 19 days of extensive treatment at Bellevue.

He was released from the hospital on Nov. 11. No other cases of Ebola have been reported in New York City.

Ebola is transmitted through contact with an infected person’s body fluids or blood, contaminated items or from infected fruit bats or primates. It’s not airborne.