The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the spread of Ebola in West Africa an international health emergency.

The breaking news came just as another Nigerian was reported to have been hospitalised in neighbouring Benin Republic after allegedly contracting the Ebola virus.

The identity of the afflicted Nigerian was not disclosed by Beninoise Health Minister Dorothée Gazard, who made public the case yesterday on state television. The minister disclosed that a sample of the blood of the hospitalised Nigerian has been sent to Senegal for testing.

More than 930 people have died from Ebola in West Africa this year, among them one Nigerian – a nurse in Lagos who was in the team that treated Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-American who imported the virus into Nigeria July 24 and died the following day.

The outbreak involves transmission in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

WHO officials said this morning that the possible consequences of the Ebola outbreak were “particularly serious: because of the virulence of the virus. They made the announcement after experts convened a two-day emergency meeting in Switzerland.

WHO described the Ebola outbreak as an “extraordinary event,” saying in a statement that “a coordinated international response is deemed essential to stop and reverse the international spread of Ebola.”

WHO said that while there would be no general ban on international travel or trade, states should be prepared to detect, investigate and manage Ebola cases, including at airports.

•Photo shows an Ebola patient receiving doctors’ attention.