UPDATE: Woman Taken Ill at Pentagon Does Not Have Ebola, Health Officials Say

UPDATE 5 p.m.: The woman who became ill at the Pentagon Friday morning— and was suspected of possibly having Ebola due to what she said was her recent travel to western Africa — does not have Ebola, according to health officials from Arlington County and Fairfax County. Here’s the joint statement from the counties’ health departments, issued at 5 p.m.:

Based on the public health investigation, which included the travel history of a woman who became ill this morning in a Pentagon parking lot, and on questioning of her by medical staff, medical authorities are confident that she does not have Ebola.

Arlington County Fire Department Emergency Medical Services transported the woman to Fairfax Inova Hospital Friday morning, after she became ill in a Pentagon parking lot. The woman had displayed symptoms consistent with the virus and her travel history was uncertain. She was put in isolation at Fairfax Inova Hospital. Arlington County took all necessary precautions to protect public health during this event, including activating its Emergency Operations Center. We are beginning to break down those operations now.

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Health workers in HazMat suits swarmed a Pentagon parking lot Friday to treat a woman suffering from Ebola-like symptoms who said she had recently traveled to western Africa, where the virus has now killed more than 4,400 people.

The lot and surrounding area, in Arlington County and near a heavily traveled main commuter highway in Washington, DC, was shut down to traffic in an abundance of caution, officials said.

Fears in the United States about the spread of the virus have increased dramatically since the death of a man in Texas and the infection of care workers. On Thursday alone, scares were reported in Connecticut and Virginia, and schools in parts of Ohio and Texas shut down for fears of exposure to Ebola.

• See: Ebola In Your Town: What’s the Plan?
• Connecticut Reacts to Ebola-Like Symptoms Found at Yale

Pentagon police officers found the woman in the Pentagon South Parking Lot, at about 9:10 a.m. Friday, around lanes 17-19, ill and vomiting, according to a news release from the county. The Arlington County Fire Department was notified and responded immediately with both emergency medical aid and HazMat response teams.

At 9:53 a.m, the patient was taken to the Virginia Hospital Center but did not exit the ambulance. She was then transported to nearby Fairfax Inova Hospital.

Arlington Public Health is directing the public health response to the incident. Arlington County has activated its Emergency Operations Center and a Joint Information Center to manage the incident.

At the Pentagon
To allow the investigation to proceed, pedestrian and vehicular traffic around the Pentagon South Parking lot’s lanes 7-23 will remain restricted until further notice. The Corridor 2 entrance to the Pentagon is also closed.

More information will be released when it becomes available.

Also See:

• Ebola Joke Gets Man Booted Off Plane From Philly
• Hartsfield-Jackson Employee on Leave Following West Africa Trips
• Possible Ebola Patient Being Tested In DC
• South Florida Ebola Scare Unfounded
• Passenger Removed From Plane At Newark Liberty Airport Is Ebola-Free
• Test Shows No Ebola in CT Patient Whose Condition Concerned Doctors
• Despite Unfounded Ebola Threat, Elm City Residents Remained Calm
• CT Reacts to Ebola-Like Symptoms Found at Yale
• Good Communication Facilitated Successful Transport of Yale Patient with Ebola-like Symptoms
• Man With Ebola-Like Symptoms Isolated at Harvard Vanguard Medical Center in Braintree
• Patient From Harvard Vanguard Medical Center in Braintree Unlikely to Have Ebola

PHOTO of Pentagon by David B. Gleason 2008 photo