MIAMI – A 13-year-old boy from West Africa was transferred from Mount Sinai Medical Center to Jackson Memorial Hospital on Sunday after exhibiting signs of Ebola, but the city of Miami Beach said preliminary results are negative.
City spokeswoman Nannette Rodriguez told Local 10 News on Monday that testing for the Ebola virus at an area Florida Department of Health laboratory was negative. That specimen was being sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for a confirmation test as established by protocol.
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Miami Fire-Rescue said the patient took a taxi to Mount Sinai with his parents after falling ill, before being taken by ambulance to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where that patient was placed in quarantine.
"For the protection of the patients and residents in the area, or even visitors, we wanted to make sure that the area was sealed off," Miami Fire-Rescue Lt. Ignatius Carroll said.
Jackson Memorial Hospital released a statement Sunday saying established protocols are in place "to deal with infectious diseases in general and with Ebola in specific."
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also released a statement Sunday saying he was "confident that the protocol we have in place will safeguard the public from serious health risks."
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