Bareto, who oversees several hospitals and medical clinics, said there have been no positive cases of the fatal disease.

Speaking to the Independete amid public concern that the virus has found its way into Timor-Leste, Bareto said: “We from HNGV have not heard any official information about the virus”

He added that Ebola could “not be spread at random” – the virus spreads from human to human through close contact with the bodily fluids of someone who has the disease.

Classic symptoms of Ebola include haemorrhagic fever and vomiting, according to medical officers.

Ebola was first discovered in 1976 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since then, the virus has emerged periodically in West African countries including Gabon, Sudan, Ivory Coast, and Uganda.

Fatality rates for Ebola vary from 25% to 90%, according to the World Health Organisation.