Woman transferred to Los Angeles-area hospital for possible Ebola tests negative

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Santa Barbara County woman who was transferred to a Los Angeles-area hospital to be monitored for possible Ebola has tested negative, L.A. County Department of Public Health officials said on Monday.

The unidentified woman was transferred overnight. The name of the hospital was not released, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there are three hospital in the Los Angeles area equipped to treat Ebola. Those institutions are UCLA and UCI medical centers and Kaiser Los Angeles Medical Center.

Authorities said the patient will be discharged and sent home, where she will continue to be monitored by the Santa Barbara Public Health Department.

Health officials had said it was "highly unlikely" that the woman had the potentially deadly disease, but precautionary measures were taken because she recently returned from West Africa and went on to develop a fever and signs of the illness.