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BREAKING: Ebola Scare At The Pentagon

Quarantine area at Inova Fairfax Hospital for possible Pentagon Ebola patient. (Photo: NewsChopper 7)

From WTOP:

(Updated at 11:00 a.m.) Arlington County’s hazmat team is on the scene at the Pentagon due to an Ebola scare.

Medics responded to the Pentagon this morning for a report of a woman on a tour bus who was sick and vomiting. When they learned that she had recently arrived from Africa, the hazmat team was called out of “a complete abundance of caution,” Pentagon Force Protection Agency spokesman Chris Layman told ARLnow.com.

A large portion of the Pentagon south parking lot has been cordoned off with crime tape, and police are telling those who don’t work at the Pentagon to avoid the immediate surrounding area.

The woman has been transported via ambulance to Virginia Hospital Center. The county’s medical director also responded to the call and is at the hospital with the patient, according to scanner traffic.

Layman said the bus was at the Pentagon for a tour of the Pentagon Memorial. Pedestrian and vehicle traffic has been shut down around it.

As of 10:50 a.m., Arlington County was mobilizing its Emergency Operations Center to deal with the incident, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

Despite numerous Ebola scares in the United States, there have been fewer than 10 confirmed cases in the country. Today President Obama named an “Ebola czar” to help coordinate the federal response to the outbreak threat.

UPDATE

Right now, the woman is in a quarantine tent outside Virginia Hospital Center - near the helicopter pad. Nobody milling around the tent is in protective gear.

ANOTHER UPDATE

From the WaPo:

Arlington County authorities said a woman who was ill and recently had visited western Africa was taken to the hospital Friday morning and officials blocked off an area around the Pentagon, where she had been visiting.

[...]

“At 9:53 a.m, the patient was taken to the Virginia Hospital Center; however she did not exit the ambulance. ACFD then transported the patient to Fairfax Inova Hospital.”...

Fairfax Inova Hospital is the largest regional hospital in Northern Virginia.

Ongoing updates HERE.

The parking lot and Corridor 2 entrance to the Pentagon remain closed “until further notice,” according to an official speaking on background.

From the latest update:

A military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the woman, who has not been publicly identified, works for Total Spectrum, whose website says it is a lobbying and public relations firm. Managing Director Steve Gordon told The Associated Press the Pentagon had contacted him, and he said the woman had not been out of the Washington area.

[...]

The military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to comment publicly by name, said the woman was on a shuttle bus taking guests to a ceremony for Gen. Joe Dunford, who is taking over as commandant of the Marine Corps. She got off the shuttle before it left the Pentagon lot and then vomited.

Officials notified the FBI and were checking the woman's background and possible travel to West Africa.

According to defense officials, seven Pentagon officers who assisted the woman were being isolated and might be kept in a tent at the Pentagon overnight. Several people who were on the shuttle bus also have been isolated.

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