Kaci Hickox, Ted Wilbur

Kaci Hickox wants people to stop calling her "the Ebola Nurse."

(Robert F. Bukaty | AP photo)

Kaci Hickox has a message for politicians: “Please stop calling me ‘the Ebola Nurse.’”

The 33-year-old nurse from Maine called out Gov. Chris Christie and civic leaders in an op-ed she wrote in The Guardian.

“I never had Ebola. I never had symptoms of Ebola,” Hickox writes. “I tested negative for Ebola the first night I stayed in New Jersey governor Chris Christie’s private prison in Newark.”

Hickox, of course, is referring to the tent inside University Hospital in Newark she was kept in upon returning from Sierra Leone, where she was volunteering with Doctors Without Borders.

Her defiance of quarantine policies in New Jersey and later when she arrived home in Maine led to a tide of media coverage.

Hickox claims Christie and Maine Gov. Paul LePage used her in a sense to further their own agendas.

“Christie and my governor in Maine, Paul LePage, decided to disregard medical science and the constitution in hopes of advancing their careers,” she said. “They bet that, by multiplying the existing fear and misinformation about Ebola … they could ultimately manipulate everyone and proclaim themselves the protectors of the people.

“Politicans who tell lies such as ‘she is obviously ill’ and mistreat citizens by telling them to ‘sit down and shut up’ will hopefully never make it to the White House.”

Hickox also explained in her op-ed the need for volunteers to help those suffering from Ebola in West Africa, and that those volunteers returning to the United States should be welcomed with open arms.

According to leaders of major Ebola relief organizations, the number of volunteers willing to help fight the disease in West Africa is down since the mandatory quarantines were implemented.

“I want to live in an America that reaches out to aid workers as they return from West Africa and says … ‘We will love and stand by you now,’” Hickox said. “We can define compassion, instead of being ruled by fear and fear-mongers.”

Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.