CAPE TOWN, March 26 (Xinhua) -- South African authorities on Wednesday ruled out the risk of a possible Ebola outbreak, with the disease spreading in neighboring countries.
The introduction of the virus into South Africa from Guinea is considered low, said Lucille Bloomberg of the South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
This came after at least 59 people died in Guinea following the outbreak of the flesh-eating virus.
Though there have been a number of Ebola outbreaks in Africa in the last 30 years, South Africa is unlikely to be affected, Bloomberg told the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
The outbreak is confined at the moment to remote rural parts of Guinea and few people would travel to this area for work or tourism, he said.
The Ebola virus is transmitted through blood contact or infected tissues. Health workers and family members of infected persons in the outbreak area would therefore be at risk.
The most recent outbreaks of Ebola haemorrhagic fever were reported from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda in 2012.
The World Health Organization said the outbreak in Guinea, started early February has killed 59 people out of 86 infections, with a fatality rate of 68 percent.
At present, suspected cases in the border areas of Sierra Leone and Liberia are also under investigation.