The Texas Department of State Health Services announced Thursday that County Sheriff Sergeant Michael Monning tested negative for the Ebola virus after he was admitted to the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas yesterday.

Monning reportedly entered the apartment of the now deceased Dallas Ebola patient Thomas Duncan for at least 30 minutes and had shown symptoms of possibly being infected with the disease days after. 

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Health officials monitoring Monning announced earlier that it's a "low-risk scare" however, him being admitted was only a precaution. 

Monning noted that he did not come in close contact with Duncan but he did talk to his relatives when he visited their home in order to deliver the quarantine order to those Duncan had interaction with.

Before being brought to the hospital, Monning was first diagnosed at a Frisco facility, an urgent care center, where they relayed that he was exhibiting signs and symptoms but pressed that he did not have all of them. However, Monning did exhibit enough symptoms for him to undergo the required preliminary screening, reports Frisco Fire Chief Mark Piland.

According to Monning's son, Logan, his father woke up with a stomach ache but did not have any fever. Logan noted that they just wanted to be sure that his father was okay and that officials assured them that there was a zero percent chance his father was infected with the virus.

Other people who have taken precautionary measures regarding the disease are the doctors, nurses, staff, and patients, who had been in contact with Duncan while he was hospitalized. They underwent blood tests but are now released and required to return to the hospital after 48 hours for further testing.

The Ebola Virus has spread extensively in South Africa and has already killed over 3,400 people in regions such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Senegal, and Guinea.

The White House announced hours after Duncan's death that there will be stricter airport screenings in order to prevent people with the virus from entering the U.S. and further spreading the disease.

TagsSheriff, Michael Monning, thomas duncan, Dallas Ebola Patient, Dead, Confined, texas health presbyterian hospital, outbreak, Virus, infected, Dallas, Texas