New York area hospitals had been establishing protocol and communicating with staff members about how to handle the potential spread of Ebola even before a patient was admitted Monday to Mount Sinai Hospital with symptoms associated with the virus.
The man remained in stable condition at Mount Sinai, where officials have said it was unlikely he had the disease. A blood sample taken from him arrived Tuesday afternoon at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Authorities said it takes 24 to 48 hours to confirm whether a blood sample is positive for the disease.
Officials wouldn't identify the man, who recently had returned from West Africa.
The CDC issued guidelines over the weekend that instructed hospitals to immediately isolate patients who exhibited flulike symptoms and also reported recent travel in West Africa. The guidelines were passed on to New York hospitals by the New York State Department of Health.
"One thing we've learned in the modern world is that we're an airplane ride away from any illness, anywhere," said Guthrie Birkhead, the state's deputy commissioner of public health. He noted that communication was a critical way to prevent the spread of infectious disease. "Our lines of communication and coordination are well laid out."
