No confirmed Ebola cases in US, Philippines: WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that neither the United States nor the Philippines have reported confirmed Ebola cases.

WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said the organization had "not got any information about confirmed Ebola cases" from the two countries, though he noted there had been panic triggered in many countries due to rumors of the virus' presence.

The Philippine Department of Health said Friday that it was monitoring seven Filipino workers who had returned from Ebola-stricken Sierra Leone, while a patient at a New York City hospital had been isolated and was undergoing medical tests.

The man, who had recently traveled to West Africa, was stable and unlikely to have Ebola, the hospital said.

The current Ebola outbreak, the largest in the nearly 40-year history of the virus, has affected 1,603 and killed 887 people this year in four Western African countries -- Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, according to the WHO.

Ebola, which spreads through body fluid or secretions such as faeces, urine, saliva and semen, can kill up to 90 percent of those infected. The fatality rate of the current epidemic is about 60 percent.