Possible Ebola patient in Canada tests negative (Update)

A patient who recently returned from West Africa suspected of being infected with Ebola was isolated in a Canadian hospital but tested negative for the disease, the hospital said Saturday.

The man was quarantined after experiencing a high fever, a symptom of the often fatal virus, according to Montreal's Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital.

He had recently returned from Guinea, one of the West African countries affected by the worst Ebola epidemic since its discovery four decades ago.

But "the results are negative" after testing in Winnipeg, a hospital statement said.

On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the outbreak sweeping the region has claimed 1,427 lives.

Earlier this month, a Canadian man was placed in isolation at a Toronto-area hospital after complaining of a fever after a recent visit to Nigeria.

He later tested negative for Ebola.

Canada is sending up to 1,000 doses of an experimental Ebola vaccine to West Africa to help the WHO fight the epidemic, according to the health minister.