Ebola Scare In Macedonia

The Ebola virus outbreak has killed nearly 4,000 people in West Africa since March.

Fears are growing of a wider outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus.

In the latest scare, a British man showing symptoms of the Ebola virus has died in Macedonia.

Health officials said the man died on October 9 hours after being rushed to hospital in the capital, Skopje.

Dr. Jovanka Kostovska of the ministry's commission for infectious diseases said the man had been suffering from fever, vomiting and internal bleeding, and that his condition deteriorated rapidly.

Kostovska said blood samples had been sent to Germany for testing.

The hotel where he stayed in Skopje has been sealed off, keeping another Briton and hotel staff inside.

Meanwhile, a media report says a man who was tested for ebola at a hospital in the Czech Republic does not have the deadly virus.

The 56-year-old man was hospitalized in Prague after showing symptoms of ebola following a trip to LIberia.

But tests conducted by a German laboratory showed he does not have ebola, Czech newspaper "Mlada Fronta Dnes" reported on its website on October 10.

It cited the chief hygienist at the hospital as saying the man was now being tested for malaria.

Ebola has killed nearly 4,000 people in West Africa since March.

In Spain, the health of a nurse -- the first person believed to have contracted Ebola outside Africa -- worsened on October 9 in Madrid, where a total of seven people are in isolation.

In Britain, authorities announced "enhanced screening" for Ebola for those arriving from affected countries in West Africa.

Screening is due to start at London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports and Eurostar railway terminals.

The news comes one day after the United States announced travelers from Ebola-affected countries would face increased security scrutiny at five airports, including New York's JFK.

That announcement came just after the death of the first man diagnosed with Ebola in the United States.

According to reports, at least 26 members of the U.S. House of Representatives want travel bans and visa restrictions on citizens of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the three West African nations hardest hit by the worst Ebola outbreak on record.

African leaders are calling on the international community to put up more money and equipment to deal with the virus.

"Our people are dying," Sierra Leone's President Ernest Koroma told major donors gathered at a World Bank meeting in Washington.


Based on reporting from Reuters and AFP