Tom Vanden Brook

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The Ebola scare that caused authorities to cordon off a portion of a Pentagon parking lot Friday morning after a woman began vomiting was a false alarm, according to Pentagon officials and local authorities.

The incident began around 9:10 a.m. Pentagon police and the Arlington County Fire Department converged on the area and restricted access to it. The woman had displayed symptoms consistent with the Ebola virus and her travel history was uncertain, according to a statement from authorities in Arlington and nearby Fairfax County. Those factors prompted officials to quarantine 17 first responders for a time, screen passengers on the bus she had been on and to activate a command center.

After interviews and tests "medical authorities are confident that she does not have Ebola," according to the statement.

The woman's boss said she did not tell authorities she'd traveled to Africa, as the Pentagon initially announced in a news release.

"The only thing she's guilty of is throwing up," said Steve Gordon of Total Spectrum, a consulting firm.

.

The woman was taken to a hospital in Fairfax County, and a large portion of the parking lot was closed to vehicles and people on foot. An entrance on the south side of the massive Pentagon building was closed as well.

The moves were taken out "of an abundance of caution," said Air Force Lt. Col. Tom Crosson,a Pentagon spokesman.

The area has been reopened.