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North Texas Patient Tested for Ebola Virus

A patient in a Dallas hospital is showing signs of the Ebola virus and is being kept in strict isolation with test results pending, hospital officials said Monday.

In a statement released Monday evening, a spokesperson for Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital said the patient is undergoing evaluation for Ebola based on the patient's symptoms and recent travel history.

Further details on the patient were not released due to medical confidentiality and personal privacy reasons.

"The hospital is following all Centers for Disease Control and Texas Department of Heath recommendations to ensure the safety of patients, hospital staff, volunteers, physicians and visitors," according to the hospital's statement.

Preliminary test results are expected by the CDC on Tuesday.

The Dallas Morning News’ public health expert Dr. Seema Yasmin discusses what a positive Ebola virus test would mean for North Texas.

According to the CDC, Ebola symptoms can include fever, muscle pain, vomiting and bleeding, and can appear as long as 21 days after exposure to the virus.

Ebola is spread by close contact with blood and other bodily fluids.

In July, Fort Worth physician Dr. Kent Brantly was diagnosed with Ebola while working in a Liberian clinic.

Raw Video: Kent Brantly, the Fort Worth doctor who was cured of Ebola after contracting the deadly virus while working with a charity in Liberia, spoke before a Senate panel at a hearing on the outbreak in Washington.

Brantly was eventually taken to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, where he remained in isolation for several days before he was declared cured of the potentially deadly virus.

Earlier this month, Brantly testified before a congressional panel in Washington, where he compared Ebola, which has killed thousands of people in West Africa this year, to "a fire straight from the pit of hell."

The National Institutes of Health recently admitted an American doctor exposed to the virus while volunteering in Sierra Leone. Along with Brantly, three other patients have been treated at hospitals in Georgia and Nebraska.

We'll update this story with more information as soon as it's available.  As this story is developing, elements may change.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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