GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — Carnival Cruise Lines says a Dallas health care worker who was being monitored for signs of Ebola has disembarked the Carnival Magic with her husband after the ship returned to port in Galveston, Texas, early this morning and headed home.
The cruise line and federal officials have said the woman poses no risk because she has shown no symptoms. The unidentified woman voluntarily quarantined herself onboard the ship.
The Coast Guard says it sent a helicopter to meet the Carnival Magic yesterday and retrieved a blood sample from the woman, which was taken to a lab for processing.
Obama administration officials have said the passenger handled a lab specimen from a Liberian man who died from Ebola at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital earlier this month.
Hospital staffers who had contact with Thomas Eric Duncan have been told to stay away from the public for 21 days and check their temperature twice a day, once in person with a public health worker.
Those who cared for Duncan at the start of his second hospital stay will not be considered safe from infection until tomorrow. Those with him at the time of his death will not emerge from monitoring until Oct. 30.
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APPHOTO NY108: FILE – The cruise ship Carnival Magic passes near Cozumel , Mexico, in this Friday, Oct. 17, 2014 file photo. The Coast Guard said it has retrieved a blood sample from a Dallas health care worker who is aboard a cruise ship and being monitored for signs of Ebola. Petty Officer Andy Kendrick says the crew flew in a helicopter Saturday Oct. 18, 2014 to meet the Carnival Magic and lowered a basket of supplies. The woman provided a sample. (AP Photo/Angel Castellanos, File) (17 Oct 2014)
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