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Denver patient tests negative for Ebola


DENVER — The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced Monday evening that a patient at Denver Health tested negative for the Ebola virus.

The patient was transported in a specialized ambulance to Denver Health Sunday night. The person had fever overnight and a history of travel to an Ebola-affected country that called for additional evaluation, health officials say.

The test for Ebola came back negative Monday night.

On Tuesday evening, Fort Hood officials in Texas said a second, conclusive test came back negative on a soldier found dead on the doorstep of his off-base residence. The soldier, who returned to the USA earlier this month after being deployed to help fight the Ebola outbreak, died from unknown causes, said Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman. Further medical tests are being conducted to determine why he died.

Although the Ebola virus is often deadly, it isn't easy to catch. A person must come in contact with an infected patient's bodily fluids, objects contaminated with the virus or animals such as fruit bats and monkeys that are carriers. A weak bleach solution kills the virus on surfaces, and it does not live more than several hours on dry surfaces.

Initial Ebola symptoms aren't much different from the symptoms of flu, which the CDC now considers at epidemic levels in this country, or malaria, a mosquito-borne illness that is very common in equatorial Africa. Ebola symptoms can appear anywhere from two to 21 days after exposure to the virus and include fever, severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, fatigue, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain and unexplained bleeding or bruising.

At least two dozen cases of Ebola have been treated in the United States and Europe, but few have been diagnosed outside of Africa. So far, only four patients have come down with the disease in this country.

Travelers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have been entering the USA through Atlanta; Chicago-O'Hare; John F. Kennedy in New York; Newark, N.J.; and northern Virginia's Washington-Dulles international airports since the U.S. government announced its enhanced screening three months ago. The passengers also are screened before leaving the affected countries.

Contributing: Tom Vanden Brook and Ray Locker, Paste BN


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(Paste BN)