Cruise Passenger Tests Negative for Ebola

By Caitlin McCabe 

A Dallas health-care worker who was monitored for Ebola aboard a Carnival cruise ship has tested negative for the virus and is headed home, according to a Carnival Cruise Lines spokeswoman.

The results came early Sunday as the ship was docking in Galveston, Texas, after being denied entry at a port of call in Mexico. The U.S. Coast Guard flew to the ship on Saturday to collect blood samples from the woman who is a lab supervisor at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas where Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan died of the virus on Oct. 8.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discovered earlier this week that the unidentified lab worker may have handled specimens from Mr. Duncan, the first diagnosed case of Ebola in the U.S. The discovery added to swelling fears across the U.S. about the threat of the disease, which officials say is only transmitted by close, direct physical contact with the bodily fluids of someone infected.

As a precaution, the woman voluntarily quarantined herself for the remainder of the trip. The Caribbean cruise had to forego part of its itinerary and was denied access to Cozumel, Mexico, upon hearing about the woman's possible exposure.

Passengers aboard the ship, including the lab worker, disembarked as planned on Sunday morning in Galveston after results were released, the Carnival spokeswoman said.

Despite running the blood test, a spokesman for the Galveston County Health District said Sunday that the local health authority had been confident throughout the process that the woman posed little risk. The woman is nearing the final days of the 21-day incubation period for Ebola.

The ship is scheduled to sail this afternoon as normal, the Carnival spokeswoman said.

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