--- title: Howard University Patient Does Not Have Ebola: CDC description: And the dozens of people who came into contact with the Ebola patient in Dallas aren't showing symptoms, either canonical: https://time.com/3466659/ebola-howard-university/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-04T17:28:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:06:24.731Z article:section: Health og:title: Howard University Patient Does Not Have Ebola: CDC og:description: And the dozens of people who came into contact with the Ebola patient in Dallas aren't showing symptoms, either og:url: https://time.com/3466659/ebola-howard-university/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0f74183103a64fae/6986a7143bc9996dc81a5b79/456620972.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4200 og:image:height: 2363 og:image:alt: WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 3: Howard University Hospital is pict og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Howard University Patient Does Not Have Ebola: CDC twitter:description: And the dozens of people who came into contact with the Ebola patient in Dallas aren't showing symptoms, either twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0f74183103a64fae/6986a7143bc9996dc81a5b79/456620972.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Howard University Patient Does Not Have Ebola > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=f50de48c-fac1-473f-8774-4281ee8b66f5&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Contact Tracing: How To Trace The Spread of Ebola [Watch (HLS stream): Contact Tracing: How To Trace The Spread of Ebola](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EJ3m56cA.m3u8) (1:49)  _Published 2014-10-02. Health officials in the US are using a method known as contact tracing, to see who is at risk from Ebola._ by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Oct 4, 2014 5:28 PM UTC  Howard University Hospital is pictured on Friday October 3, 2014 in Washington, D.C. Howard University Hospital is pictured on Friday October 3, 2014 in Washington, D.C. The Washington Post—The Washington Post/Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Oct 4, 2014 5:28 PM UTC The Howard University Hospital patient being tested for Ebola does not have the disease, according to the Washington, D.C. Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Howard University spokeswoman Kerry-Ann Hamilton said health officials “ruled out” a case of Ebola in the patient, who had recently traveled to Nigeria. In a separate news conference Saturday, CDC officials said that the dozens of people who had direct or indirect contact with a Texas patient currently being treated for Ebola do not themselves show symptoms of the disease. Thomas Duncan, who traveled to Liberia and contracted Ebola, was first sent home from a Dallas hospital despite health staff having access to his travel history. He was later readmitted when his conditioned worsened and diagnosed with Ebola. “We have identified everyone that may have contact with him and none of those individuals have any symptoms at this time,” said Tom Frieden, director of the CDC. About 5o individuals had some level of contact with Duncan, including health staff, several schoolchildren, and Duncan’s girlfriend and roommates. Freiden said screening processes at airports in affected African countries had prevented 77 people from boarding a plane to travel internationally through the use of thermometers or by identifying obvious symptoms of Ebola. The number of individuals calling the CDC out of fear of having Ebola has increased since Duncan was diagnosed, Frieden said. ## Transcript [00:00] Now that the first case of Ebola has been diagnosed on [00:03] American soil, what's next? How can we keep the virus [00:07] from spreading? Health officials are now turning to a [00:10] process known as contact tracing to figure out who else [00:13] might have been exposed to the virus. The likeliest [00:16] candidates are the medical technicians who treated [00:18] him. That's because Ebola is spread by direct contact [00:21] with bodily fluids, which health workers could have [00:23] come in contact with while treating the patient. Beyond [00:27] that are the patient's family members or people who [00:29] have been living in close quarters with him since he [00:31] developed the symptoms, including fever. Vomiting or [00:34] diarrhea. These people will be monitored for 21 days, [00:38] which is the incubation period of Ebola, to see if they [00:41] develop similar symptoms. They won't be quarantined, [00:44] but they might be asked to avoid traveling out of the [00:46] country and spending time in crowded public areas. If [00:49] anyone in either of these rings appears infected. [00:52] Health officials will extend their monitoring to include [00:54] anyone those people have been in contact with. [00:57] Including their family members, school classmates, or [01:00] work colleagues, until no more Ebola symptoms are [01:03] discovered. Beyond that, if people in this ring appear [01:06] infected, they too would be monitored for symptoms [01:09] for 21 days, and the analysis would spread to their [01:12] contacts. The passengers on the patient's flights from [01:15] Liberia to the US aren't considered at high risk of [01:18] exposure, since he was not experiencing symptoms [01:21] then. Of course, all of this depends on honest and [01:25] accurate information from the patient and his contacts [01:28] about where they have been and with whom. [01:30] Something that has been an issue in West Africa. There [01:33] the stigma against Ebola has led patients to flee health [01:35] volunteers who are attempting to trace contacts or fail [01:38] to report people they have interacted with. 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