NYC doctor stricken with Ebola is clear of the virus, will be released from hospital, health officials say

The Manhattan doctor diagnosed with Ebola after treating patients in West Africa is clear of the virus and will be released Tuesday morning after 19 days of hospitalization, city officials said Monday night.

Dr. Craig Spencer, 33, of West Harlem, New York City's only confirmed case of the deadly virus, "poses no public health risk and will be discharged from the hospital," the city Health and Hospitals Corp., which runs Bellevue Hospital Center, said in a statement.

Spencer, who performed humanitarian work with Doctors Without Borders in Ebola-stricken Guinea, is the last confirmed U.S. case of the virus.

He had undergone a "rigorous course of treatment and testing" at Bellevue, on Manhattan's East Side, city officials said.

Spencer was rushed by ambulance to Bellevue Oct. 23 with a fever. He was treated in isolation, and his fiancee and two friends were quarantined at home with no symptoms.

Mayor Bill de Blasio Monday night said he looked forward to shaking Spencer's hand and called him a "hero" for his work in West Africa.

"He's suffered a lot these last few weeks, but he's come back really strong," de Blasio said.

Spencer had the best medicine and treatments during the course of his recovery, the mayor and health officials have said. He received a plasma transfusion rich with Ebola-fighting antibodies from virus survivor and American missionary Nancy Writebol.

The mayor, health officials and Doctors Without Borders executive director Sophie Delaunay will join Spencer in making a statement about his recovery at Bellevue Tuesday morning.

City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito in a statement applauded New Yorkers for "their calm and resolve" in light of the Ebola case and thanked Spencer and other Doctors Without Borders volunteers for "their selfless service" in West Africa.

Before showing symptoms of Ebola, Spencer traveled by subway and Uber taxi service, visiting a bowling alley in Brooklyn and a restaurant in Manhattan.

Health officials have said the virus can only be spread through direct contact with a symptomatic patient's bodily fluids.