RIYADH Aug 6 (Reuters) - A Saudi Arabian man suspected of having contracted the Ebola virus during a recent business trip to Sierra Leone died early on Wednesday in Jeddah, the Health Ministry said.

Saudi authorities and international laboratories certified by the World Health Organisation are testing samples from the man for Ebola and other diseases after he showed symptoms of viral haemorrhagic fever, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said it was working to trace the man's route of travel and identify people he was in contact with.

Ebola is one of the deadliest diseases known in humans with a fatality rate of up to 90 percent. The death rate in the current outbreak in West Africa, which has killed close to 900, is around 60 percent.

The kingdom has suspended pilgrimage visas from West African countries to counter the further possible spread of the disease. (Reporting By Angus McDowall, editing by John Stonestreet)

source>>http://af.reuters.com/article/guineaNews/idAFL6N0QC3RC20140806

Previously,

Doctors in Saudi Arabia are testing a man who is suspected of contracting the Ebola virus during a recent business trip to Sierra Leone, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

The ministry said the man, a Saudi in his 40s, had been admitted to a hospital in the Red Sea city of Jeddah after showing “symptoms of viral hemorrhagic fever,” which resemble symptoms of the Ebola virus.

The man is in critical condition, it said, adding that cause of his sickness is unknown, but that Ebola cannot be ruled out.

The ministry said it had taken precautionary measures, including isolating the patient at a specialist hospital and had sent blood samples to an international laboratory in coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO) for further checks.

Ebola is one of the deadliest diseases known in humans with a case fatality rate of up to 90 percent. The death rate in the current West Africa outbreak is around 60 percent.

Ebola-like symptoms include fever, vomiting, severe headaches and muscular pain and, in the final stages, profuse bleeding.

Nearly 900 deaths

WHO said Monday that at least 887 people have died from Ebola since the beginning of the year, after the virus spread across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Saudi Arabia has been on alert against the spread of the virus, suspending issuance of visas from those three countries for the annual haj pilgrimage or for other visits to Muslim holy places.

Health ministry officials said different types of viral hemorrhagic fevers are found in the Saudi kingdom, but that no case of Ebola has yet been detected in the country.

WHO chief Margaret Chan said last week that an outbreak of the virus in West Africa was out of control but can be stopped with more resources and tougher measures. The outbreak is the worst since the disease was discovered in the mid-1970s.

There are no effective treatments and no vaccine to protect against Ebola infection. The disease is transmitted by direct contact with the blood or fluids of the infected, including the dead.

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