Algeria denies Ebola detection reports

Algeria Monday denied reports of detection of Ebola virus cases in its territory, media reported.

Minister of Health, Abdelmalek Boudiaf, said that "no cases of Ebola were recorded in Tamenrasset province, 2,000 km south of Algiers, or in any other region nationwide, as reported by some local media", Xinhua reported citing the APS news agency.

Recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that Algeria was among the North African nations that are threatened by the spread of Ebola virus, following some cases recorded in neighbouring Mali and Mauritania, media reported.

Earlier in August, the Algerian health authorities said widescale preventive measures have been taken on the southern border of the country to counter the spread of the deadly Ebola virus.

Those measures include mobilising medical staff in border areas, the state-run radio said, citing a medical source in the southernmost province of Tamenrasset.

Each of these medical teams consist of four doctors tasked with the mission of providing healthcare coverage in the border areas. The authorities have also established a sanitary control post at the airport of Tamanrasset.

The North African nation has detected no case of Ebola so far, specified the source, adding that the prevention operation also includes raising awareness among residents in border areas and travellers to African countries on the risks of this contagious disease.

Some 4,500 people have been killed by the Ebola virus disease in West Africa, according to WHO.

The Ebola virus, which is transmitted between humans through bodily fluids, hit Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, and has spread, in recent months, to other neighbouring countries.