Possible Ebola Patient Treated at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento

A patient being treated at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento is suspected of having Ebola.

UPDATE: Health officials announced Friday the patient tested negative for the virus.

Hospital staff could be seen outside the facility Thursday morning wearing protective medical suits.

“A patient with symptoms consistent with Ebola infection was transferred to UC Davis Medical Center Thursday morning from Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento,” UC Davis said in a statement. “UC Davis, identified by the California Department of Public Health as a priority hospital to treat confirmed Ebola patients, is fully prepared to safely assess and treat the patient if necessary in accordance with guidelines established by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

The public can still access other parts of the medical center.

The emergency room at Mercy General was closed for cleaning, a hospital spokesperson said, KCRA-TV reporter Sharokina Shams wrote on Twitter. The spokesperson said the ER was expected to reopen sometime Thursday afternoon, Shams reported.

The patient, who recently traveled abroad, is considered "low risk" and had no known contact with infected people, according to a Sacramento County Health Department spokesperson.

UC Davis has not released information on who the patient is or how he or she possibly contracted the deadly virus, but county health officials in Sacramento also confirmed the possible Ebola case.

"Whenever there is a person displaying symptoms that may be Ebola, who has recently traveled to Sierra Leone, Liberia or Guinea, certain precautions are taken," said Dr. Gil Chavez, state epidemiologist for California.

The possible Ebola case came to light on Thursday, the same day the World Health Organization reported Ebola cases in three of the worst-hit West African countries are at the lowest level in seven months.

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