A sheriff's deputy in the U.S. city of Dallas, who fell ill after visiting the apartment of a deceased Ebola patient, tested negative for the virus and was discharged from hospital Thursday, health officials said.
A statement from the Texas Health Department said that testing on the deputy's specimen came back negative for Ebola. The hospital, where the patient was treated, said the man was discharged.
"Physicians at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas have discharged Deputy Michael Monnig following the negative test results," the statement said.
Monnig was hospitalized Wednesday afternoon, several hours after Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola patient diagnosed on the U.S. soil, was pronounced dead. The deputy who claimed to have had contact with Duncan allegedly showed some signs of Ebola.
But authorities later found out that Monnig did not have direct contact with the deceased patient. He only had some contact with Duncan's family members who were quarantined and have not shown any Ebola symptoms.
Besides, his condition "is not consistent with an early stage Ebola diagnosis," according to the hospital. The case proceeded, however, out of "an abundance of caution."
Monnig is not among some 50 people who are being closely monitored for signs and symptoms of Ebola. They are believed to have had direct or indirect contact with the deceased patient. So far no one has displayed any Ebola symptoms, authorities said Thursday.
Duncan reportedly began to show active symptoms of Ebola on Sept. 24, four days after he arrived in Dallas from Liberia. The virus can be transmitted via direct contact with body fluids from an infected person only after he shows symptoms.
The following days could be crucial in determining whether Duncan had spread the virus to anyone else as the incubation period is between two to 21 days.