Saudi Arabia suspects case of Ebola infection

RIYADH - Doctors in Saudi Arabia are testing a patient suspected of having contracted Ebola during a trip to West Africa, hit by an epidemic of the virus, the health ministry said Tuesday.

A woman washes her hands with chlorine water in prevention from contracting Ebola at a public health center in Liberia's capital Monrovia on July 31, 2014

The Saudi man was admitted to hospital in the Red Sea city of Jeddah after showing symptoms of haemorrhagic fever upon his return from Sierra Leone.

The patient, in his 40s, is in critical condition and has symptoms "similar to that of Ebola infection."

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

The UN World Health Organisation 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.

In April, Saudi Arabia announced a ban on visas for Muslims in the three West African nations wishing to perform the pilgrimage to the Muslim holy sites there.