Italian Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin Monday ruled out that there could be a risk of Ebola coming to Italy from African migrants, as suggested by some media reports in the past weeks.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting in Brussels to coordinate a European response to the virus raging in West Africa, Lorenzin stressed that her country was safe, Xinhua reported citing ANSA news agency.
"Ebola is a virus limited to some territories that have nothing to do with these tragic voyages of hope," she said, referring to the countless landings of African migrants to the Italian coasts.
"It is a matter of making checks against the virus at ports and airports, and of paying utmost attention. Italy, however, enjoys the highest-level surveillance," she said.
Last week a Nigerian woman who had returned to Italy from her home country was hospitalised with suspected symptoms of contracting the virus, but clinical tests showed she was suffering from malaria.