"Now. I dunno. I dunno, what do we do," the judge said before asking Britton to step aside.

Hurley called for a deputy in the jail.

"Deputy," the judge said, "this gentleman has claimed he has Ebola."

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The deputy responded with an expletive before following the judge's suggestion to clear the room of everyone but Britton.

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As the other inmates walked out, Britton told the judge that an officer took his Ebola claim "out of context."

"It was a nurse that had Ebola that was in Ft. Lauderdale..." Britton started, before the judge told him to wait.

The Fort Lauderdale reference presumably pertains to the Ebola diagnosis of a nurse in Dallas. Amber Vinson flew on Frontier Airlines from Ohio back to Dallas on Monday, one day before being hospitalized with symptoms of the disease. The plane flew through Fort Lauderdale after Vinson's flight before being decontaminated on Tuesday.

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There is no confirmation that Britton was on that flight or that he's experiencing any symptoms associated with Ebola.

According the Broward County Sheriff's Office, Britton was arrested Thursday and charged with battery, breach of peace and resisting an officer without violence.

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The Sun-Sentinel, which live-streams the hearings, reported that jail officials let inmates back into the courtroom within an hour after Britton's claim; a deputy said officials were "taking steps" to determine whether the inmate really had Ebola.

Hurley, who appeared to take Britton's claim at least half-seriously, was "concerned" about how the whole thing went down.

"In a half-hour we just took care of it?" the Sun-Sentinel quoted the judge as saying. "What if it turns out this guy really has it? I'm concerned some people think it was just some hoax. If it turns out he was on one of those airplanes..."

The Broward County Sheriff's Office said in a statement to WPLG that officials "do not believe the inmate has Ebola," but are "taking precautions."