Cooper Ward at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital is to reopen on Monday after a rare disease scare.

The ward was shut last Tuesday after a patient and staff member tested positive for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA).

The infection, which is carried in the nose, does not exhibit symptoms in healthy patients but can slow down the healing of wounds.

MRSA is resistant to most forms of antibiotics but does not pose much of a threat for healthy people.

All 34 staff and 20 patients had been tested following the discovery. So far all the results have been negative, although the results have yet to come back from the lab for around four patients and four staff.

A hospital spokesman said: "The lab had a lot of work to do. Several members of staff were off and couldn't be tested until one or two days after the discovery.

"We will be looking at the results over the weekend and we expect to reopen Cooper ward on Monday.

"We had to reschedule things a little but it didn't cause much of a problem,'' he added.

"Every hospital has to cope with MRSA at one time or another. It's not all that scary but if it gets in wounds, it can delay healing and if it gets in the blood, then it can make you sicker.''