Ebola tests done on the body of a person who died apparently due to a heart attack came back negative for the virus on Wednesday, New York City health official said to reporters.
The deceased, who is yet to be identified, had recently come to the United States from West Africa, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said in a statement. The person had been in one of the countries hardest hit by the outbreak of Ebola, just 18 days earlier, the statement further informed.
The department also informed that, “before death, this individual showed no symptoms of Ebola. However, there can be chances as according to his travel history within the 21-day incubation period and an abundance of caution, an Ebola test will be definitely performed on this individual’s remains”.
On Wednesday, the Ebola test came back negative, department spokesperson Levi Fishman told reporters.
Fishman also declined to offer any other information about the person, including gender, location and time of death. He said that all these details are too kept confidential for the time being.
According to the reports of the New York Times, “the individual was a woman and that she was pronounced dead at the Brooklyn hair salon at around 1.30 p.m CST on Tuesday.
Medical experts say that Ebola can be transmitted easily through the bodily fluids of a sick person with showing strong symptoms.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday broke silence about Ebola’s outbreak and said that it is the deadliest disease caused in the history of United States. There have been 5,177 deaths out of 14,413 cases, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.
