WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Medics, firefighters and a hazardous materials team investigated a possible case of the deadly Ebola virus in a Virginia suburb of Washington on Thursday, an official said.

Emergency crews transported a patient from an apartment in the Clarendon section of Arlington County to Virginia Hospital Center using Ebola precautions, said Lieutenant Sarah-Maria Marchegiani of the county's fire department.

Marchegiani said the patient had recently traveled to a country affected by Ebola and exhibited symptoms of the disease.

The patient was unlikely to be suffering from the disease, Marchegiani said.

Nearly 10,000 people have died from Ebola in the West African nations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the three countries hit hardest by the outbreak.

At least 10 people are known to have been treated for Ebola in the United States, and two people are known to have contracted the virus in the United States.

Calls to the hospital were not immediately returned.

(Reporting By Lisa Lambert and John Clarke; Editing by Bill Trott and Will Dunham)