An Ontario patient has tested negative for Ebola after he was put in isolation at Belleville General Hospital.

He had gone to the hospital at 3 a.m. on Monday, and told staff he wasn't feeling well. He said he'd recently returned from overseas via Sierra Leone, one of the areas known to be suffering from a severe Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

He had only been there for a few hours, during an airport layover.

Because he presented symptoms including chills, muscle aches and mild diarrhea, he was isolated less than five minutes after arriving at the hospital.

Samples were taken from the patient and rushed to a national laboratory in Winnipeg. Late Tuesday night, the Belleville hospital confirmed the patient did not have Ebola.

The patient had recently returned from West Africa and arrived in the QHC Belleville General Hospital emergency room early Monday with some symptoms common with the Ebola virus. Samples were tested by the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg and results came back clear late Tuesday.

“We knew this was a low risk case and were expecting these results,” said Dr. Dick Zoutman, Quinte Health Care Chief of Staff, said in a press release. “Even so, this shows our surveillance and infection control practices are working. I am extremely pleased with the response of all the health professionals involved with this case.”