BBC News Online: World: Middle East

Hajj pilgrims barred in Ebola scare

Saudi Arabia has banned Ugandan Muslim pilgrims from attending for the annual Hajj pilgrimage next month due to fears of the deadly Ebola virus.

More than 170 Ugandans have died recently from the Ebola epidemic.

Saudi Arabia is just recovering from an outbreak of Rift Valley fever - which killed more than 100 Saudis - and the authorities are fearful of another epidemic.

As pilgrims begin to gather for the Hajj, Saudis have welcomed their government's ban.

Rift Valley Fever has symptoms similar to Ebola - high fever, vomiting and profuse bleeding as the internal organs collapse.

Pilgrims gather

It is thought to have reached the Arabian peninsula through cattle imported from countries around the Horn of Africa.

With pilgrims starting to gather in Saudi Arabia for this years Hajj, the authorities are taking no chances.

In the past, they have had to combat infectious diseases such as meningitis, brought in by pilgrims from West Africa.

Visitors to the kingdom during Hajj season, are advised to get inoculations against meningitis.

The concentration of more than two million pilgrims in the holy city of Mecca makes it easy for infectious diseases to spread.

And the Saudis are clearly concerned that Ebola, at least, is kept off the list.