Somalia has dismissed rumors that there has been an outbreak of Ebola in the country.

Somalia’s Health Minister Ali Mohamed Mohamud on Saturday denied reports about the country registering its first deadly Ebola virus infection.

"We can state categorically that there has been no outbreak of Ebola in Somalia,” media outlets quoted the health minister as saying during a press briefing in the capital, Mogadishu.

Local media earlier claimed that a man from the Somali town of Buulo Sharey had contacted the virus during his stay in the Ebola-hit Guinea.

Sources say the man falsely reported to have been infected with Ebola in Guinea, where he ran a business.

Reacting to the speculations, Mohamud said the man was already cleared by the Somali Health Ministry.

“As soon as we heard the rumors of a case of Ebola virus in Somalia, we acted quickly and decisively to isolate the alleged victim, a Somali citizen named Abdulkadir Jinow Barow, and those who had been in contact with him,” the minister said, adding, “It very quickly became apparent that the man did not have the Ebola virus.”

The World Health Organization says the number of fatalities due to the Ebola epidemic in Africa has soared to nearly 8,000.

Almost all the death reports were recorded in the three West African countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea.

Ebola is a form of hemorrhagic fever with diarrhea, vomiting, as well as internal and external bleeding as its symptoms.

The virus spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. Those who care for the Ebola-infected patients or handle their bodies are particularly exposed and endangered.