Cotonou: A meeting of African health ministers scheduled for early September in Benin has been postponed because of the Ebola epidemic, an official said on Sunday.

The tiny West African nation had planned to host the 64th session of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) committee of African health ministers from September 1 to September 5.

“This important meeting ... has been postponed after consultations with (WHO) authorities,” Benin’s Foreign Minister Nassirou Arifari Bako said.

The decision was made “to express full solidarity with the countries affected by Ebola,” Bako added.

The foreign minister said delegations from more than 40 African countries had been expected.

Benin has not yet recorded an Ebola case, but sees a huge inflow of commercial traffic each day from Lagos, the economic capital of neighbouring Nigeria, which has registered 14 cases, including five deaths.

Worst-ever outbreak

The worst-ever outbreak of the tropical disease has killed more than 1,400 people since the start of the year in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Meanwhile, a British national in Sierra Leone has tested positive for Ebola, the Department of Health in London said on Saturday, the first person from the country to have contracted the virus in a recent, devastating outbreak.

Officials in London added that they were providing consular assistance to the person, who has not been officially identified.

But Britain’s Mail on Sunday newspaper reported that the infected man is a medic working for a charity in Sierra Leone.

He was reportedly set to be flown back to Britain for treatment in the next couple of days. Britain’s Department of Health did not immediately respond to a request to confirm the report.

Professor John Watson, deputy chief medical officer, stressed that the risk posed by Ebola to people living in Britain “continues to be very low”.

“Medical experts are currently assessing the situation in Sierra Leone to ensure that appropriate care is provided,” he added.

“We have robust, well-developed and well-tested NHS (National Health Service) systems for managing unusual infectious diseases when they arise, supported by a wide range of experts.”

Ebola has spread through Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, while Nigeria has also been affected, killing a total of 1,427 people since March.

No cure or vaccine is currently available for the virus, which is spread by close contact with body fluids.