Teen tests negative after Ebola scare in Australia

This undated file image made available by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows the Ebola virus. AP FILE PHOTO

SYDNEY – Australian authorities said early Monday that a teenager who was in isolation in hospital had tested negative for Ebola after she developed a fever following her arrival from Guinea.

The 18-year-old, who arrived in Australia 12 days ago with eight other family members, had been in home quarantine in Brisbane before she developed a raised temperature and was put into isolation at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital Sunday.

“The Queensland Chief Health Officer, Dr Jeannette Young, reports the results of tests on an 18-year-old woman in Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital are negative for Ebola virus disease,” a statement from the office of the Queensland Minister for Health said.

Young had said earlier that a second test would be taken in three days.

She would not specify the teenager’s nationality, but said she was moving to Australia permanently and authorities had been informed of her family’s arrival several days before the flight.

The rest of the woman’s family was quarantined at home.

Young said Queensland health authorities were monitoring four families from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where the vast majority of Ebola cases have occurred.

The number of Ebola infections has surpassed 10,000 and the death toll neared 5,000 worldwide, mainly in the three West African nations.

There have been no confirmed Ebola cases in Australia.