Possible Ebola patient rushed to hospital in Virginia

A woman in Arlington County, who had just returned from West Africa, was rushed to a hospital Thursday morning after suffering from flu-like symptoms also associated with the Ebola virus.

ARLnow.com reported that firefighters in hazmat suits went to the unidentified woman’s apartment and she was taken to the Virginia Hospital Center.

“While it’s unlikely it’s Ebola, the fire department and the responding hospital are taking all appropriate precautions,” said Arlington County Fire Department spokeswoman Lt. Sarah Marchegiani.

Not only because of her symptoms, but also because of her travel history, the woman has been placed in an isolation unit.

Ebola has devastated the West African countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone since the outbreak began last year.

The often-fatal virus has claimed the lives of almost 10,000 people abroad and a handful of people in the U.S. are known to have had it. One of those was Dr. Craig Spencer, who as the Associated Press noted, criticized politicians and the media on Wednesday for not educating people about the disease more.

"When we look back on this epidemic, I hope we'll recognize that fear caused our initial hesitance to respond — and caused us to respond poorly when we finally did," he wrote in The New England Journal of Medicine. "Politicians, caught up in the election season, took advantage of the panic to try to appear presidential instead of supporting a sound, science-based public health response.”