Ebola tests negative for Texas soldier found dead in yard

KILLEEN, Texas -- Officials are investigating the death of a Fort Hood soldier who was found outside an off-base apartment after he returned from deployment in West Africa.

A Fort Hood statement says two tests on the 24-year-old soldier Tuesday showed no signs of Ebola, and that there is "no evidence of a public health threat."

Killeen police, a hazmat team and several ambulances responded to the soldier's home Tuesday morning after a report came in of a man's body being found outside, reports CBS affiliate KWTX in Waco.

A neighbor told KWTX that he saw the body at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Fort Hood spokesman Chris Haug says the soldier, whose name was not released, returned with his unit last week from Liberia, where he helped construct an Ebola treatment camp. Haug says he wasn't exposed to patients.

Haug says the soldier self-monitored his health and was allowed off-post after his return.

Soldiers from Fort Hood have deployed often to West Africa as part of the Pentagon's efforts at assisting in combating the Ebola outbreak there.

Last November, Fort Hood was designated as one of five U.S. installations at which troops returning from deployments to West Africa to help in the fight against Ebola would be housed and isolated for 21 days.

There have been no reports so far of any American soldiers returning from the field with the disease.