Just as a national tragedy or a major health epidemic provides people with ample opportunities to con authorities, the recent outbreak of Ebola seems to have begun its own set of hoaxes.

Medical officials wearing full protective gear responded to a 911 call on South Champion Avenue in Columbus, Ohio, after a local woman claimed to be suffering from Ebola-like symptoms around 9 p.m. Thursday, NBC's WCMH reported.

According to ABC's WSYX, the unidentified woman also told authorities that she had recently traveled to West Africa, where the Ebola outbreak has lead to almost 9,000 infections and 4,500 deaths.

However, the authorities have now deemed the call to be a hoax through which the woman was trying to receive faster treatment for an unidentified illness, according to The Huffington Post.

On Thursday, after being rushed to Ohio State University-Wexner Medical Center's Isolation Unit by hazmat crews, the health department was directed to examine the woman's house, Columbus' WBNS reported.

Once there, authorities discovered the truth when the woman failed to answer health questions and tested negative for a possible fever, health officials told ABC 6/FOX 28. She might have devised the story because she "simply wanted faster treatment for a different illness," Tracy Smith, a battalion chief with a local Fire Division, said.

In addition, Jose Rodriguez of Columbus Public Health confirmed that the woman did not exhibit Ebola symptoms and had not traveled to West Africa, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

"We are trying to protect the community," Rodriguez said, "and a hoax really wasted our resources."

Police are now investigating the incident, according to WBNS.

Meanwhile, events such as the 9/11 attacks or the AIDS crisis have been famously used to pull hoaxes on government authorities.

"The more widespread the tragedy, the more attention it gets in the press over a long period of time, the more likely it is that powerless individuals will see a way of establishing control in the worst kinds of ways," Jack Levin, a criminologist at Northeastern University and author of many books about violence, previously told The Huffington Post, adding that more Ebola hoaxes will likely happen in the coming months.