A soilder based at Ft. Hood, who recently returned from fighting the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, was found dead on his doorstep. Tests for Ebola were negative. VPC 
 
 A colorized transmission electron micrograph of an Ebola virus virion. (Photo: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) 
 
 A soldier found dead on his doorstep who recently returned from Liberia has conclusively tested negative for the virus, Fort Hood officials said Tuesday evening. 
 
 The soldier, who returned to the USA earlier this month after being deployed to help fight the Ebola outbreak, died from unknown causes, said Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman. Further medical tests are being conducted to determine why he died. 
 
 The soldier, a 24-year-old man whose name was not released pending notification of family, died at his apartment off base and had been monitoring his temperature and other potential symptoms, reporting his status to medical officials, a Fort Hood statement said. That's standard procedure for 21 days after any troops leave a zone where Ebola outbreaks have occurred. 
 
 The soldier was found in or near a pool of vomit, prompting concern about Ebola, according to a Defense Department official speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the investigation. 
 
 A second Defense official said the soldier had been allowed to leave the post after returning from West Africa under emergency leave and had not shown signs of the disease when he returned to the post. 
 
 A preliminary test was negative for the deadly virus, and on Tuesday evening negative results of a second, more conclusive test, called a polymerase chain reaction test, were released by Fort Hood, ruling out Ebola. 
 
 Fort Hood spokesman Chris Haug said the soldier returned with his unit last week from Liberia, where he helped construct an Ebola treatment camp. The soldier wasn't exposed to Ebola patients. 
 
 About 80 other soldiers from Fort Hood, about halfway between Dallas and San Antonio in Texas, returned to the base last week from West Africa. 
 
 About 3,000 troops are being deployed to West Africa to help fight the outbreak, which has claimed more than 8,200 lives, according to the World Health Organization. 
 
 The concerns come a day after patient in the Denver area, who had traveled to the United States from an area of Ebola outbreaks, also tested negative for the often-fatal disease. Although hospitals in the United States have treated 10 patients with Ebola, only four have been diagnosed in this country. 
 
 Contributing: Tiffany Pelt, KCEN-TV, Waco-Temple-College Station, Texas; Blair Shiff, KUSA-TV, Denver; The Associated Press 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1BXRogB ||||| Army Sgt. Joel Miick, left, and Spec. Michael Potts don gas masks while training Oct. 9 with the rest of the 36th Engineer Brigade at Fort Hood, Tex., on how to put on protective clothing and gloves. They are part of the Pentagon’s force responding to the Ebola crisis in West Africa. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News via Associated Press) 
 
 Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered Wednesday that all U.S. troops who deploy to West Africa as part of the force assisting in the Ebola virus crisis be put in quarantine-like monitoring for 21 days, even though none are expected to treat patients directly. 
 
 Hagel’s decision came a day after the Joint Chiefs of Staff recommended such a move. Pentagon officials stopped short of calling it a quarantine, even though troops will be held in “controlled monitoring” before returning home. It began Monday in Italy for an initial group of U.S. soldiers that deployed to Liberia, and is said to include no physical contact with the outside world and those under monitoring eating separately from other service members. 
 
 “The fact is, the military will have more Americans in Liberia than any other department,” Hagel said Wednesday at the Washington Ideas Forum, held at the Aspen Institute. “That’s number one. Number two, our people are younger. The cohorts are different. They are not volunteers. And this is also a policy that was discussed in great detail by the communities, by the families of our military men and women. And they very much wanted a safety valve on this.” 
 
 Hagel also directed that the military’s top officers to develop a detailed plan in the next 15 days for how the controlled monitoring will be applied. It should take into account the size and scope of the logistics required, said Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary. 
 
 The joint chiefs also were told to conduct a review of the new regimen within 45 days. At that point, they have to recommend whether the monitoring should continue, based on what is observed among the initial group of troops returning from the mission, known as Operation United Assistance. 
 
 “The secretary believes these initial steps are prudent given the large number of military personnel transiting from their home base and West Africa and the unique logistical demands and impact this deployment has on the force,” Kirby said. “The secretary’s highest priority is the safety and security of our men and women in uniform and their families.” 
 
 The decision is likely to prove controversial. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that people at high risk of developing Ebola voluntarily quarantine themselves for 21 days, but it has stopped short of requiring one. State-imposed quarantines for health workers returning from Ebola-affected countries have been challenged, and President Obama criticized them Tuesday, saying that doing so would undermine the broader effort to stop the spread of the deadly virus. 
 
 “We don’t just react based on our fears,” Obama said. “We react based on facts and judgment and making smart decisions.” 
 
 Hagel’s decision and the recommendation Tuesday from the joint chiefs came after Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno ordered on Monday a 21-day “controlled monitoring period” for all redeploying soldiers returning from Operation United Assistance. He said it was a precaution to ensure that soldiers, family members and their communities are confident that all steps necessary are being taken to protect them from the virus. 
 
 The military has hundreds of troops in West Africa assisting with the Ebola mission. That number will grow to up to 4,000 in coming days, with most providing transportation, logistics and building treatment units that are desperately needed. No U.S. troops will directly treat Ebola patients, Pentagon officials have stressed. 
 
 Obama, asked Wednesday whether he was concerned about there being confusion between quarantine rules used for the military and health-care workers, drew a distinction between the work they will do. 
 
 “Well, the military is a different situation, obviously, because they are, first of all, not treating patients,” he said. “Second of all, they are not there voluntarily. It’s part of their mission that’s been assigned to them by their commanders and ultimately by me, the commander in chief. So we don’t expect to have similar rules for our military as we do for civilians. They are already, by definition, if they’re in the military, under more circumscribed conditions.” 
 
 This piece was updated with comments from Hagel. 
 
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– A Fort Hood soldier recently returned from fighting the Ebola outbreak in Liberia was found dead on his doorstep yesterday morning, but officials say conclusive tests have ruled the disease out as a cause. The 24-year-old returned to Texas with his unit last week and the tests were ordered as a precaution after his body was found outside his off-base apartment in Killeen, the AP reports. He had been self-monitoring for fever and other symptoms as troops are required to do for 21 days after leaving Ebola zones, the base says. Defense Department sources say Ebola was a major concern because the soldier was found in or near a pool of vomit, USA Today reports. More tests are being conducted to determine the cause of death.