Fort Hood Soldier Back From West Africa Found Dead A Fort Hood soldier who recently returned from West Africa was found dead Tuesday morning at an off-base residence in Killeen, Texas. Police officers from Killeen are working with Fort Hood officials to investigate the death of the 24-year-old soldier, whose name was not released. Initial tests on the soldier were negative for the presence of the Ebola virus, officials at Carl R. Darnall Medical Center confirmed Tuesday afternoon. The more conclusive PCR Assay test already was underway to confirm those preliminary findings. The soldier had recently returned (to Texas) on emergency leave and was under established guidelines to self-monitor himself twice-a-day and report his status to medical officials, reads a statement from Fort Hood. Medical tests are underway to ensure there is no threat to the community. In mid-November, the Pentagon mobilized an additional 2,000 Army Reserve and Army National Guard soldiers to help combat the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. The soldier, who returned to the states on Jan. 7, had been deployed to Liberia with the 36th Engineering Brigade to construct hospitals for Ebola patients, officials said. He was granted emergency leave to return to the U.S. because of a family emergency back in Texas. nbcnews/news/us-news/fort-hood-soldier-back-west-africa-found-dead-n285456
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 02:13:55 +0000