A patient in California has been hospitalized after being identified as being at risk for having contracted Ebola.

Health officials claim that the decision to keep the patient in isolation at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Sacramento was made out of “an abundance of caution” despite the patient’s low risk for Ebola infection. It is expected to take a couple more days for blood tests to determine, definitively, whether or not the person has contracted the virus.

No information is being released regarding the patient’s identity or medical status outside of the low likelihood that they are sick with Ebola. It is not known to the public if this person has recently traveled to any of the countries in West Africa that are being rocked by the virus this year.

There are three criteria used by the CDC to establish the chance that the virus may be present. Recent travel to an afflicted area, the opportunity to come in close contact with an infected person, and the symptoms presented are all taken into consideration when assessing risk. How the patient fit into these criteria is not being released, aside from reassurances from health officials that the risk is low for this particular patient.

Isolation is one of the key ways to prevent transmission of the virus, according to health authorities. The virus is not easily spread. Those infected with Ebola are only contagious once they start exhibiting symptoms. Even then, the virus cannot be transmitted through the air and does not last long once exposed to surfaces outside the body. To get the disease, a person must come in close contact with bodily fluids and excrement.

As a safety precaution, public health officials from the state have begun notifying people who may have come in contact with the patient in isolation. Should tests confirm the virus, these people will be placed under observation as well. Blood test results are expected to take about 3 days to finish processing.

The CDC reports that, as of Aug. 19, 1,229 out of 2,240 people have died from suspected Ebola infections. That puts the mortality rate at about 55 percent.