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Boston Public Health Officials Try To Ease Ebola Fears

BOSTON (CBS) - Boston Public Health officials are trying to tamp down Ebola concerns saying there are currently no cases of the disease. The announcement comes on the heels of a scare in Braintree Sunday when a man who recently visited Liberia walked into a Harvard-Vanguard clinic with Ebola-like symptoms.

He was eventually taken to Beth Israel hospital where he was quarantined as a precaution. The hospital said Monday night that they have "determined with certainty" the patient does not have Ebola and he remains in good condition.

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The Brewster Ambulance crew that did the transport was suddenly thrust on the front lines of the Ebola scare. "Our awareness has been heightened. We've been preparing the last couple of weeks and it went off flawlessly," said Jeff Jacobson, director of education and training.

The crew demonstrated their stepped up training, including the protective suits and equipment used to respond, all part of new guidelines received from the Centers for Disease Control. "They just put out updated information and within a couple of days we put it to use," said Jacobson.

Health officials say in recent weeks they've investigated three or four possible Ebola cases, none have been confirmed. Dr. Anita Barry, director of the Infectious Disease Bureau at the BPHC, says the heightened fear and anxiety around the disease is likely a misunderstanding of how the virus is spread and contracted. "This is not something that will come at them through the air by somebody who sat next to them on the T who looked perfectly healthy and God only knows," said Dr. Barry.

She also says hospitals would have handled things differently than in Braintree where the man complaining of head and muscle aches was told to return to his car and wait for an ambulance. "As a physician, if someone is ill and they've come to a hospital for care and I'm sending them out to the car I really want to make sure someone is monitoring that ill person."

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