New York – Government officials in New York has confirmed the first case of Ebola in New York.

They said on Friday that a doctor who recently returned from volunteering in West Africa was being treated in a New York City hospital early Friday after he tested positive for the Ebola virus in the first confirmed case in the city.

They said the 33-year old doctor identified as Craig Spencer was taken to an isolation ward at Bellevue Hospital Center for treatment after suffering a fever and exhibiting gastrointestinal symptoms characteristic of Ebola.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that the city had acted quickly as it was as ready as one could be for such circumstance.

Bill de-Blasio, New York City Mayor, said there was no reason for New Yorkers to be alarmed, stressing that necessary precaution had been taken.

He said Spencer, who was treating Ebola patients in Guinea with the medical organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres, arrived in New York last Friday and did not exhibit any symptoms until Thursday morning.

de-Blasio said the three people who had contact with the doctor, including his fiancé, would be monitored for 21 days for symptoms.

“While the Ebola patient had ridden the subway taken a taxi and even visited a bowling alley since his return to New York, he was taken straight to the hospital once he began exhibiting symptoms which is when Ebola becomes contagious,’’ he said.

“Ebola is very difficult to contract, being on the same subway, car or living near a person with Ebola does not in itself put someone at risk,” he added.