Visas suspended for Muslim pilgrims from Guinea and Liberia due to contagious nature of deadly disease

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Saudi Arabia has announced the suspension of visas for Muslim pilgrims from Guinea and Liberia, two countries hit by an outbreak of the deadly Ebola epidemic.

The Saudi health ministry recommended the measure "due to the danger of the disease and its highly contagious" nature, the state news agency SPA reported.

The World Health Organisation has said it is not recommending travel or trade restrictions to Guinea, Liberia or Sierra Leone, which has reported suspected cases of Ebola, based on information currently available.

Muslims perform the hajj pilgrimage to the Saudi city of Mecca once a year, but they can make the minor umrah pilgrimage to the kingdom all year round.

Doctors Without Borders said on Monday that the Ebola outbreak in Guinea was an "unprecedented epidemic". Guinean health authorities have recorded 122 suspected cases and 78 deaths since January.

The tropical virus leads to haemorrhagic fever, causing muscle pain, weakness, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in severe cases, organ failure and unstoppable bleeding.