China's Ministry of Health refuted Tuesday internet stories about an Ebola virus infection in a coastal city in south China's Guangdong Province as a sheer rumor.

The ministry said it has asked Guangdong provincial health bureau to confirm the information after an official noticed it on internet.

There were no such cases according to reports from Shenzhen's Center for Disease Prevention and Control, which had checked all the city's hospitals, the ministry said, quoting Tuesday's reports from Guangdong health bureau.

Meanwhile, reports from Shenzhen customs and its entry-exit inspection and quarantine agencies also excluded any infected cases of Ebola, the ministry said.

In addition, the ministry said that no Ebola virus infection has been spotted on other parts of the Chinese mainland.

The Ebola virus was first identified in a western equatorial province of Sudan and in a nearby region of Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1976 after significant epidemics in Yambuku, northern Zaire, and Nzara, southern Sudan.

Ebola haemorrhagic fever (EHF) is one of the most virulent viral diseases known to humankind, causing death in 50 to 90 percent of all clinically ill cases. Several different species of Ebola virus have been identified.

The virus is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected persons. Transmission of the Ebola virus has also occurred by handling ill or dead infected chimpanzees.

According to the World Health Organization, no specific treatment or vaccine is yet available for Ebola haemorrhagic fever. Several vaccine candidates are being tested but it could be several years before any are available. A new drug therapy has shown early promise in laboratory studies and is currently being evaluated further. However, this too will take years.

Source: Xinhua