Creatas/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — A preliminary test for Ebola came back negative for a health care worker who was quarantined at a New Jersey airport after she returned from treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, the state’s Health Department said in a statement Saturday.
The woman, who hasn’t been identified, was quarantined at Newark Liberty International Airport despite not having any symptoms, health officials said. Hours later, she developed a fever.
The woman was transferred to University Hospital in Newark, where she remains in isolation.
On Friday, governors in New York and New Jersey announced that they would enforce mandatory quarantines for all travelers who had contact with Ebola-infected people and were arriving from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The Illinois Department of Public Health also announced a mandatory 21-day home quarantine for high-risk individuals who cared for Ebola patients in the same countries.
The announcements came a day after Dr. Craig Spencer, 33, who treated Ebola patients in Guinea, tested positive for the virus. He is isolated at Bellevue Hospital in New York City.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control also tightened guidelines on Thursday to require 21-day self-monitoring — but not quarantines — for travelers to Ebola-affected regions.
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