Cruise ship returns to Texas; passenger negative for Ebola

The health care worker who was being monitored for signs of Ebola aboard a Carnival Cruise Lines ship passed a blood test and was allowed to leave with other passengers when the ship docked Sunday in Texas, health officials said.

"We are able to confirm that the (Ebola) test was negative," Galveston County Health Authority spokesman Kurt Koopman said in an e-mail to USA TODAY shortly after the Carnival Magic docked in Galveston.

The woman had handled specimens from the USA's first confirmed Ebola patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, who died Oct. 8 at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.

"The Galveston County Health Authority has made the assessment that there is no evidence of a public health threat to cruise passengers or to Galveston County. The passenger and her travel partner have been allowed to disembark without restrictions," county health officials said in a statement.

When the cruise left from Galveston on Oct. 12, the woman had only been required to "self-monitor" for fever or other Ebola symptoms. The woman, who has not been named, at no point showed signs of the virus and was considered asymptomatic, the Coast Guard said.

She was voluntarily isolated on the Carnival Magic, which has a capacity of almost 4,000 passengers and crew. No restrictions had been placed on passengers during the one-week cruise.

A Coast Guard helicopter had flown to the ship Saturday and received samples from the health care worker for testing in Austin.

Passengers learned through a public address system announcement that one of the passengers was being monitored for Ebola. Carnival Cruise Lines had said that the woman, a lab supervisor, was "not deemed to be a risk to any guests or crew."

But on Thursday, Belize refused to let the passenger leave the vessel for what would have been a precautionary medical helicopter flight home. A spokeswoman for the cruise line, Jennifer De La Cruz, said other passengers were allowed to disembark with the exception of the health care worker and her spouse.

On Friday, the ship was refused clearance to dock in Cozumel, Mexico, for what would have been a highlight of the cruise. Travelers snapped pictures of the Coast Guard helicopter as it landed to get a blood sample from the passenger.

"We weren't worried. We ended up just hanging out and enjoying the rest of the trip," said Meredith Brooks, a Houston banker who was on her honeymoon during the cruise.

Contributing: KHOU-TV Houston; Associated Press