EBOLA AGAIN: Cruise ship returns to port after Ebola scare

The Carnival Magic cruise ship with a health care worker aboard who was being monitored for signs of Ebola returned to Galveston on Sunday and was allowed to walk off the ship with other passengers. The Galveston County Health Authority said the woman was allowed to leave with her traveling companion due to "reassurance provided by Department of State Health Services lab testing." Authority spokesman Kurt Koopman declined to provide further details on the results of the woman's Ebola test, citing patient confidentiality. The woman had handled specimens from the nation's first confirmed Ebola patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, who died Oct. 8 at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. "The Galveston County Health Authority has made the assessment that there is no evidence of a public health threat to cruise passengers or to Galveston County. The passenger and her travel partner have been allowed to disembark without restrictions," county health officials said in a statement. The woman, who has not been named, is showing no signs of the virus and is considered asymptomatic, the Coast Guard said. She was voluntarily isolated on the ship. A Coast Guard helicopter had flown to the ship Saturday and received samples from health care worker for testing in Austin. "We anticipate the results of the test will indicate she is not showing any symptoms and the test would be negative," Coast Guard officials had said in a statement. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that when the woman left the U.S. on the cruise ship from Galveston, Texas, on Oct. 12 health officials were requiring only self-monitoring. Carnival Cruise Lines said in a statement that the woman, a lab supervisor, "is not deemed to be a risk to any guests or crew." The ship had been refused clearance to dock in Cozumel, Mexico on Friday, a day after Belize refused to let the passenger leave the vessel. A spokeswoman for the cruise line, Jennifer De La Cruz, said that when the Magic made a port call in Belize, other passengers were allowed to disembark with the exception of the health care worker and her spouse. There had been no restrictions placed on other passengers aboard the ship, officials said. Contributing: Associated Press