The Centers For Disease Control, the California Department of Public Health, and the Sacramento County Health Department confirmed late Thursday that a patient held in isolation since Tuesday has tested negative for the Ebola virus.
Dr. Stephen M. Parodi, infection disease specialist and director of hospital operations for Kaiser Permanente Northern California released the results in a statement:
We are pleased with this good news for our patient from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Our infectious diseases experts worked closely with the Sacramento County Health Department, California Department of Public Health (CDPH), and the CDC. We value the strong partnership we have with these agencies and extend our appreciation to them. The coordinated response and support was essential in working swiftly to rule out Ebola.
We also want to acknowledge the efforts of the Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento physicians, nurses and staff in providing excellent care to this patient. Their knowledge, skill, compassion and professionalism have been outstanding. We are proud of the work our teams are doing to exercise every precaution necessary to protect the health, safety, and well-being of Kaiser Permanente members and employees, following CDC guidelines.
We placed the patient in a specially equipped negative pressure room, and provided the staff who were caring for the patient with appropriate infection control training, which includes personal protective equipment. We also provided all employees at the South Sacramento Medical Center with education regarding Ebola virus disease.
As health care providers we remain vigilant for infectious diseases such as Ebola because the rapid implementation of infection prevention measures protects our community.
