Boy faces more Ebola tests after initial results return negative

A five-year-old boy who recently returned to New York City from the West African nation of Guinea faces more tests for Ebola after initial results indicated he does not have the disease.

The child had been taken to Bellevue Hospital Center on Sunday night by emergency medical workers in protective gear and immediately placed in isolation.

The child, who had a low-grade fever, will remain in isolation at Bellevue Hospital to undergo further tests to ensure he is cleared of the disease, the hospital and health department said.

The New York City health commissioner, Mary T Bassett, declined to go into detail on the child’s symptoms, citing privacy concerns.

The family returned in recent days from Guinea and the people who lived in the home with the boy were quarantined in their apartment. While the child’s travel history was clear, it was less certain whether he had any known contact with people infected with Ebola.

Craig Spencer, a doctor who became the first patient in New York to test positive for Ebola, remains in a serious but stable condition.

– (New York Times service/Reuters)