UPDATE: State health officials confirm Cobb County inmate tested negative for Ebola

MARIETTA, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Officials with the Georgia Department of Public Health say a Cobb County inmate is not infected with Ebola.

According to a news release from the state agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted the final testing Friday night.

”So far absolutely all of his lab work is negative and normal. We have no reason to believe that he has Ebola,” Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health said during a news conference. “But we do know, we do have absolute reason to believe that the protocols that have been put in place in Georgia are functioning well.”

Health officials were waiting for the results from this final, definitive test. They expected the results would be negative.

Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren said the man was arrested on DUI and other traffic charges early Friday. He had flu-like symptoms and told authorities that he had recently been to Liberia.

“This patient was isolated at the jail, isolated while he was transported to the hospital, and he was isolated while at the hospital,” Fitzgerald said in a statement.

State health officials have been working to ensure hospitals, medical care providers, law enforcement and emergency medical services providers are aware of proper containment protocols.