Yale grad student free from Ebola quarantine

A 30-year-old Yale epidemiology graduate student is free from quarantine after Connecticut officials feared he may have contracted Ebola.

Ryan Boyko returned from West Africa earlier this month, but days later, he developed a fever and was hospitalized.

Tests for Ebola were negative, but the state's health department ordered him to remain in his home.

CBS News' Don Dahler was the first person to speak with Boyko at his home following his release from quarantine at midnight Wednesday night.

"It's been a lot of ups and downs and a whirlwind," Boyko said.

Boyko went to the Liberian government in West Africa to develop a computer program that would track Ebola. The three-week trip was his ninth to Africa.

He assured he wasn't treating anyone with Ebola, nor did he come in contact with anyone with the disease.

"I saw the NBC freelancer, Ashoka Mukpo, the day before he became symptomatic," Boyko said. "There wasn't physical contact; we had a couple-minute conversation. And then as soon as I knew he was sick I called the CDC, and they said there's no risk."

Shortly after returning home to Connecticut, Boyko developed a fever and was admitted to Yale-New Haven Hospital. Tests for Ebola came back negative.

"The doctors were now coming into my room with no precautions," he said. "They were shaking my hand without gloves on."

After being cleared of the having the virus, the health care workers showed no signs of worry.

"The hospital had medically classified me as saying, 'We don't need to take precautions at that point,'" Boyko said.

But a declaration signed by Connecticut 's governor earlier in the month authorized the state health commissioner to quarantine individuals believed to be exposed to Ebola. Boyko was ordered to remain at home in isolation, with police officers on watch outside.

And his contact to the outside world was fairly limited.

"Mostly through my cell phone, through Skype and then a little bit through the kitchen window," he said.

In a statement sent to "CBS This Morning," the Connecticut Department of Health said "completing a period of quarantine without developing illness is a relief for all involved. Hopefully, when people finish the 21 days of monitoring, they will all be healthy and free of the threat of Ebola."

In a recent CBS News poll, 80 percent of Americans support this kind of quarantine as a precaution. Boyko doesn't agree.

"For one case, it's just simply unnecessary," he said. "If you're thinking about going to volunteer there, nobody has any idea what to expect when you get home, so that has a chilling effect on volunteers."

Boyko said that had the quarantine order been in effect when he was planning his trip, he would never have been able to take off enough time to volunteer.

Now finally out of his house, he plans to take some time off and travel to the beach with his girlfriend.