Bellevue patient to stay in isolation despite negative test for Ebola virus, officials say

A man who recently arrived from West Africa tested negative for the Ebola virus disease Thursday but will remain in isolation at Bellevue Hospital Center, New York City health officials said.

The patient came from Mali, "a country with limited Ebola transmission," and was taken to the Manhattan hospital Thursday, according to a joint statement from the New York City Health Department and the New York City Health and Hospitals Corp.

He will undergo more Ebola tests in the next few days to confirm Thursday's findings because test results in the early stages of the disease could come up negative, officials said.

Until then, the patient will remain in isolation, the statement said.

Authorities declined to cite his symptoms but said he was placed in isolation because of his travel history.

Health officials did not release other details.

A Manhattan doctor who underwent 19 days of Ebola treatment was declared free of the deadly virus and discharged from Bellevue last week.

Dr. Craig Spencer, New York City's only confirmed Ebola patient and a Doctors Without Borders volunteer who spent five weeks in Guinea, called himself a "living example" of how protocols to detect and contain infection among health care workers returning from West Africa can be effective.