--- 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: 2026-02-21T10:35:34.882Z 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Howard University Patient Does Not Have Ebola ## 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. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3466659/ebola-howard-university/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3466659/ebola-howard-university/"},"headline":"Howard University Patient Does Not Have Ebola","datePublished":"2014-10-04T17:28:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:35:34.882Z","description":"And the dozens of people who came into contact with the Ebola patient in Dallas aren't showing symptoms, either","url":"https://time.com/3466659/ebola-howard-university/","keywords":["ebola"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0f74183103a64fae/6986a7143bc9996dc81a5b79/456620972.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0f74183103a64fae/6986a7143bc9996dc81a5b79/456620972.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 3: Howard University Hospital is pict","caption":"WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 3: Howard University Hospital is pict","creditText":"The Washington Post—The Washington Post/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/ebola/","name":"ebola"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3466659/ebola-howard-university/","name":"Howard University Patient Does Not Have Ebola"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Contact Tracing: How To Trace The Spread of Ebola","description":"Health officials in the US are using a method known as contact tracing, to see who is at risk from Ebola.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/EJ3m56cA/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-10-02T18:25:06.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EJ3m56cA.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3466659/ebola-howard-university/","duration":"PT1M49S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3466659/ebola-howard-university/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```