CDC Report: Ebola Reports Rarely Panned Out

ASSOCIATED PRESS  by Mike Stobbe                                                                                   Dec. 5. 2014

NEW YORK--A new government report counts hundreds of times U.S. doctors and hospitals raised false alarms about possible Ebola cases, finding that fewer than one in five warranted even additional investigation.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report ? released Friday  looked at Ebola-related calls the federal agency received this year from doctors, hospitals, and state and local health departments.

In most calls, it turned out the patient had neither traveled to an Ebola-affected country nor had contact with an Ebola patient. Of 650 patients flagged to federal officials, four ended up testing positive.

But health officials say there was a national learning curve for Ebola ? even for doctors and nurses ? and they had no complaint about all the nervous phone calls.

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http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/cdc-report-ebola-reports-rarely-panned-27396939