New York City doctor cured of Ebola has been released from hospital

The New York doctor who was hospitalized with Ebola has been released from the hospital since he has been cured of the deadly disease.

Reuters reported that Doctor Craig Spencer contracted the virus after working with patients in Guinea who had the disease. His diagnosis came on Oct. 23 and now that he has been released, it means he was the last person who received treatment for the disease.

At a news conference, Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, said, “It’s a very, very good day. New York City’s first and only Ebola case successfully treated. Dr. Spencer is Ebola-free and New York City is Ebola-free.”

Spencer had made many trips through the city before his diagnosis came, so there was fear the virus could spread throughout the city. Since being hospitalized the past three weeks, neighbors were thrilled to learn he would return home, especially since his fiancée was under quarantine herself at the building.

The World Health Organization said over 4,950 people in West Africa had died from the disease since the outbreak occurred this year. Many of the cases came from Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. The only person to have died in the United States from the disease was Thomas Eric Duncan, who was in Dallas, Texas at the time of his death.

According to NBC News, Spencer told a crowd outside Bellevue Hospital, where he had been treated, that “Today I am healthy and no longer infectious.”

The people who contracted the virus who were at greatest risk were those health care workers who had contact with patients who had symptoms of Ebola. Despite no longer having cases of Ebola in the United States, Dr. Thomas Frieden of the Centers for Disease Control and prevention said there is still a risk due to the West Africa Ebola epidemic.

Travelers from the affected countries have been given protocols in order to screen them, but there have been no cases of anyone coming into the country with the virus.