Clarendon Memorial Hospital announced late Thursday that it has contacted the state Department of Health and Environmental Control regarding three patients, but "all have been deemed not an Ebola risk," according to spokesman Jeffrey Black.
"The safety of our patients, their families and our employees will always be our top priority," Black said. "Our staff has been in multiple trainings daily, and we will always err on the side of caution."
Black said "every patient" who walks through the hospital doors is screened with a "series of questions about their health symptoms and recent travel history."
One patient had recently been flying on a plane from Texas and came to the hospital Thursday "with fever and muscle pain."
"The patient had not been traveling internationally and did not have any known contact with someone displaying Ebola symptoms," Black said. "We immediately contacted DHEC, and the patient was deemednot an Ebola risk."
So far, one man in Texas - a Liberia native who had recently traveled there - has died from the Ebola virus, while two nurses have contracted the illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
The virus is spread through bodily fluids, including blood, semen and saliva. It is not airborne.
UPDATE HERE.
