The 40-year-old woman who died suddenly in a New York City hair-braiding salon after having recently returned from West Africa has tested negative for Ebola, authorities announced on Wednesday.
“The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said the woman, whose identity was not immediately released, returned from West Africa 18 days ago and appeared symptom-free prior to her sudden death,” a New York Post report explains.
She was in a Brooklyn salon when she “keeled over in her salon chair inside the business on Belmont Avenue in Brownsville at 2:30 p.m.” and died. She was pronounced dead at the scene, and when authorities became aware that she had recently spent time in West Africa, they took the necessary precautions to test for the deadly virus.
“Before death, this individual showed no symptoms of Ebola,” the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said in a statement Tuesday night, but it opted to conduct Ebola tests “due to travel history within the 21 day incubation period and an abundance of caution.”
According to the New York Times, New York City officials have “been tracking about 300 people who have traveled in West Africa.”
“A spokesperson from the health department confirmed Wednesday morning that the woman’s test results came back negative for the deadly virus,” the Post reports.
Read more at the New York Post and the New York Times.