Tests prove negative for potential Ebola case in Miami-Dade County

Unidentified patient being treated by Jackson Health System

MIAMI – Tests came back negative for a possible case of Ebola being treated in Miami-Dade County.

A Twitter account affiliated with Jackson Health System said an unidentified patient was tested for the deadly virus, but that results came back negative.

The patient was admitted to the hospital last week, said Jackson Health System spokesperson Jennifer Piedra.

"A Jackson Health System patient tested negative for the Ebola virus," Piedra said in a statement. "The patient had shown some symptoms associated with the disease and was tested in an abundance of caution. All of our community's precautionary measures were taken, multiple agencies worked effectively in partnership, and we demonstrated that we are ready in the unlikely event that this disease is detected in Miami-Dade County."

Jason McDonald of the Center for Disease Control told Local 10 that a sample from the patient was on its way to a CDC lab for confirmation of the negative result. On Tuesday morning, the CDC confirmed the second round of tests came back negative.

Last month, two U.S. doctors who were infected with Ebola while in Africa were successfully treated at the Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. And last week, another U.S. doctor infected with the virus in Liberia was transported to a hospital in Omaha, Nebraska.

The current Ebola outbreak in Africa has turned into an epidemic that has killed at least 2,100 people.

During an interview on Sunday, President Obama declared the outbreak a "national security priority" and promised to send resources to Africa.

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