The patient is in a special room which has negative pressure, meaning that everything will stay inside the room. Doctors and nurses have been instructed to wear protective gear when taking care of this patient

Advertisement Officials testing woman for Ebola at UNM Hospital Woman hospitalized after vising Sierra Leone, Africa Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Out of an abundance of caution, the New Mexico Department of Health is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to perform tests to rule out Ebola in a 30-year-old woman who developed a sore throat, headache, muscle aches and fever.The woman is at UNM Hospital in Albuquerque in stable condition. The woman had been in Sierra Leone, Africa, and left on Aug. 4. Sierra Leone is one of several countries in West Africa with known cases of Ebola.The woman was a teacher and had no known exposures to Ebola.New Mexico Deputy Epidemiologist Joan Baumbach said the likelihood of the woman having Ebola is very small. "I honestly believe the public is not at risk," she said. "People with Ebola virus by and large have a high fever, and she has not had the degree of fever that many and most people with Ebola virus have."What to know: EbolaThe earliest they'll know whether the woman has Ebola is at the end of the week. “The Department of Health is working closely with UNM Hospital, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on this investigation,” Department of Health Cabinet Secretary Retta Ward, MPH, said. “UNM Hospital has isolated the patient, and is following the appropriate protocols to ensure other patients and health care workers are safe.”According to the CDC, Ebola poses no substantial risk to the U.S. general population.A person infected with Ebola virus is not contagious until symptoms appear.The virus is spread through direct contact -- broken skin or mucous membranes -- with the body fluids, such as blood, urine, feces, saliva, and other secretions, of a person who is sick with Ebola. Ebola is not spread through the air or by food or water.The patient is being held in a special room, which has negative pressure to keep everything inside the room. The room itself is in protective gear and doctors and nurse have been instructed to wear protective gear when taking care of the woman. "(Doctors) wear masks, gloves and faces masks in addition to eye protection," hospital epidemiologist Meghan Brett said.Officials said Albuquerque residents have no reason for increased health concerns because the woman is quarantined. As of Aug. 13 no confirmed Ebola cases have been reported in the United States, other than the two U.S. health workers evacuated from Liberia.