A 5-year-old boy with Ebola-like symptoms tested negative Monday, said a New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation spokesman.
After returning from West Africa, a 5-year-old boy was believed to have contracted the fatal virus, so he was immediately subjected to testing.
Fortunately for the boy's family, he tested negative for Ebola virus, giving a sigh of relief to the city at large and health officials who are doing the best they can in containing any case pertaining to the virus, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The alleged 5-year-old with Ebola was first transported to Bellevue Hospital Center after manifesting symptoms consistent with the deadly disease Sunday night.
At the emergency ward, medical professionals quickly responded with protective gear as they decided to put the little boy into mandatory isolation.
City officials said the 5-year-old and his family have recently returned from Guinea, where the Ebola outbreak is currently prevalent.
Everyone living with the boy was asked to be quarantined right away after he started to show Ebola-like symptoms, reports New York Times.
"Out of an abundance of caution, further negative Ebola tests are required on subsequent days to ensure that the patient is cleared," the city's health department said in a statement released before 6 p.m. "The patient will also be tested for common respiratory viruses. The patient will remain in isolation until all test results have returned."
It wasn't clear whether the 5-year-old and his family made contact with Ebola infected people in Guinea.
On Monday morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio gushed about the child's case, but didn't comment on the specific Ebola-like symptoms the child manifested.
"The child at first did not appear to have any symptoms," he said.
Around 7 a.m., the child's temperature rose to over 100 degrees as per a statement from health officials. His mother rushed him to the hospital, but de Blasio maintained that "the mother has no symptoms whatsoever."
Although the 5-year-old with Ebola-like symptoms tested negative, he is will still be kept in isolation until further tests corroborate the results of the first one, noted Huffington Post.
There have been a lot of suspicious cases in the city as of late, but most if not all of them ruled out Ebola without the need for doctors to perform blood testing.
Nevertheless, after New York City saw its first confirmed case last week in the person of Dr. Craig Spencer, extreme precaution has been implemented by health authorities.
"As a further precaution, the health department's team of disease detectives has begun to actively trace all of the patient's contacts to identify anyone who may be at potential risk," the city health department said of its move to trace all the people who have made contact with the 5-year-old with Ebola-like symptoms.
Meanwhile, Dr. Spencer, who has worked with Doctors Without Borders in Guinea to treat Ebola patients, is currently undergoing antiviral therapy and plasma therapy, as well as supportive therapy.
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