A patient who was being held in isolation at the Ottawa Hospital has tested negative for Ebola.

Ottawa Public Health confirmed the test results in a tweet Monday night, noting that isolation precautions at the hospital are no longer required.

The Ottawa patient was one of two patients in Ontario waiting for Ebola test results.

A member of the Canadian military who was recently in Sierra Leone is in isolation at a Belleville, Ont., hospital with Ebola-like symptoms, but health officials say it’s unlikely the patient will test positive for the virus.

The patient arrived at the hospital around 3 a.m. Monday with fever and diarrhea and was placed in isolation within five minutes, Dr. Dick Zoutman, chief of staff at Quinte Health Care in Belleville, told reporters on Monday.

Health authorities did not release any personal information about the patient, but a Department of National Defence spokesperson confirmed that a DND member has been admitted to the Belleville hospital “as a precaution.”

DND did not say what type of role, if any, the military member had in Sierra Leone.

Dr. Richard Schabas, the medical officer of health for Hastings and Prince Edward Counties, which include Belleville, said the patient is at an “extremely low” risk of being infected with the Ebola virus, but the hospital is taking all the necessary precautions.

The patient’s blood has been sent to the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg, and results are expected by Monday evening or Tuesday morning.

Vaccine development

Meanwhile, Canada is tightening its airport screening measures and sending an experimental Canadian Ebola vaccine to the U.S. for human trials.

The experimental vaccine will be tested on 40 healthy volunteers at a laboratory in Maryland, with results expected in December.

Health Minister Rona Ambrose said the vaccine contains no live Ebola, and test subjects will not be at risk of contracting the virus.

"The Canadian vaccine provides great hope and promise, because it is shown to be 100 per cent effective in preventing the spread of the Ebola virus when tested on animals," Ambrose told reporters on Monday.

Ambrose stressed that the risk of Canada facing an outbreak of Ebola remains very low.

Ambrose said the global community has come together to accelerate the development of the Canadian vaccine, which has been in development for about 10 years at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.

"This process is moving at unprecedented speed," she said.

Phase one of the trials will focus on determining the proper dosage and any possible side effects of the vaccine.

Canada has donated 20 vials of the vaccine for the trials.

How it works

The Ebola vaccine works much like an influenza vaccine, chief public health officer Gregory Taylor said at the news conference Monday, explaining that it contains dead parts of the virus, combined with another virus typically found in animals.

"During these clinical trials, no one will be at risk of getting Ebola," Taylor said. "The vaccine does not contain any live Ebola virus."

Taylor said the vaccine trains the body to kill the real virus, by triggering the immune system to react, attack the virus, and build up antibodies.

"We're using the virus to avoid getting sick," Taylor said.

Beyond prevention, the vaccine has also been effective at stopping Ebola immediately after exposure, he added.

International measures

Minister Ambrose also announced new mandatory screening measures for all passengers flying into Canada from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa. Effective immediately, all arrivals will be referred to a quarantine officer for a mandatory health assessment.

Ambrose said Canada has contributed more than $34 million to fight the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, including shipments of personal protective equipment. Canada has also deployed two mobile labs to quickly diagnose potential cases of infection there.

Taylor said Canadian doctors are reviewing their own personal safety protocols, after health workers in Texas and Spain became infected while treating patients with Ebola.

Other Ebola-related developments Monday: