Dr. Rick Sacra Tests Negative For Ebola
WORCESTER (CBS) -- Holden Dr. Rick Sacra has tested negative for the Ebola virus and is being removed from isolation, a Worcester hospital said Sunday night.
Sacra had been isolated at UMass Memorial Medical Center since Saturday with a suspected upper respiratory tract infection. He was recently released from a Nebraska hospital and declared Ebola-free, but doctors said they were taking every precaution in the unlikely event that he had come down with the deadly disease again.
"Late this evening, UMass Memorial Medical Center doctors announced that the Centers for Disease Control has informed them that the laboratory testing for Dr. Rick Sacra is negative for Ebola virus," the hospital said in a statement. "We are removing Dr. Sacra from isolation, and his physicians are continuing routine care for his upper respiratory tract infection."
Sacra contracted Ebola while treating patients in West Africa. He had been continuing his recovery at home in Holden before checking into a hospital on Saturday morning with a persistent cough and low-grad fever.
During a press conference on Sunday afternoon, Dr. Robert Finberg said Sacra was "feeling better."
"Dr. Sacra came to the hospital with a fever and slight cough. Today, he is in stable condition, his symptoms seem to be improving, and he is eating," Finberg said.
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