officer's office for advice on Ebola fever, the Ministry of Health said.

"There are no travel restrictions on people coming from Zaire but the Department of Immigration is aware of the situation and will be monitoring visitor arrival although Bermuda is not a first port of call for travellers from Zaire,'' according to a statement from the Ministry of Health.

This disease is a severe acute illness caused by a virus which was first described in Africa in 1976.

Officials of the Ministry of Health in Bermuda are in contact with the Centres for Disease Control to monitor the situation, the Ministry of Health said.

"As yet there are no reliable reports of anyone having left Zaire who might be carrying the infection.'' The contact number for the chief medical officer is 236-0224.

The current outbreak of the disease is the fourth reported.

Patients with Ebola become ill rapidly, suffering fever muscle pain, respiratory difficulty, bleeding and shock.

The virus, for which there is no known vaccine or cure, kills by causing uncontrollable bleeding.

Reports indicate 90 percent of those who contract the disease do not survive.

Infection occurs from close personal contact with a victim. The incubation period may be up to 21 days.

The spread of the virus is minimised by strict isolation of victims, careful sterilisation of all equipment and careful disposal of all dressings and bodies.

The most recent deaths from the virus occurred in the Kikwit area, east of Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire.

The death toll reached 108 yesterday, said the World Health Organisation.