A cruise ship carrying a Dallas healthcare worker who is under isolation for signs of Ebola has returned to port in Texas.
The woman being monitored poses no risk because she has shown no symptoms of Ebola for 19 days and is in voluntarily quarantine, officials said.
Petty Officer Andy Kendrick said coastguard crew had travelled to the Carnival Magic ship via helicopter on Saturday and retrieved a blood sample from the woman. He said the blood sample was taken to a state lab in Austin for processing.
Kendrick said the decision to take the sample was made in coordination with the federal, state and local health authorities.
Obama administration officials said the passenger handled a lab specimen from a Liberian man who died from Ebola at a hospital in Dallas earlier this month.
US officials had been seeking ways to return the woman and her husband to the country before the ship completed its cruise.
State department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that when the woman left the US on the cruise on 12 October, health officials were requiring only self-monitoring.
Carnival Cruise Lines said in a statement that the woman, a lab supervisor, remained in isolation “and is not deemed to be a risk to any guests or crew”.
The ship was refused clearance to dock in Cozumel, Mexico, on Friday, a day after Belize refused to let the passenger leave the vessel. There have been no restrictions placed on other passengers aboard the ship, officials said.
The cruise line said Friday that after not receiving clearance, the ship left Cozumel waters on Friday afternoon with the goal of returning to its home port of Galveston on Sunday morning as originally scheduled.