COLUMBUS, Ohio – Tests on a Columbus woman for Ebola has tested negative for the virus, according to Columbus Public Health.
The agency received confirmation of the negative test results Tuesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta which conducted the test through the Ohio Department of Health, CPH spokesman Jose Rodríguez said.
Rodriguez says the 46-year-old woman had showed symptoms of illness upon her return from a recent trip to a West African nation affected by an Ebola outbreak that has left at least 932 (updated figure) people dead.
She is recovering in isolation at a local hospital where she is doing well, Rodriguez said.
Columbus Health Commissioner Dr. Teresa Long says Columbus has the proper facilities to handle a case of Ebola, one of the most deadly viruses on Earth. There is no cure for the disease, which has a death rate of 50 to 90 percent.
A second American aid worker who contracted the disease in Africa returned to the U.S. yesterday and is being treated at an Atlanta hospital. Nancy Writebol’s husband says his wife is weak but showing signs of improvement.
The virus is not airborne, so a person cannot get Ebola by breathing the air of an infected patient. It is transmitted through contact with blood or secretions from an infected person, either directly or through contaminated surfaces, needles or medical equipment.
Early symptoms of Ebola include fever, muscle weakness, sore throat and headaches.