A first suspected case of the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus has been reported in a suburb of Paris, leading to a quarantine operation by authorities, French media reported Thursday.
French daily "Le Figaro" reported that a person of Guinean origin in West Africa had been taken ill in a building in the Cergy-Pontoise suburb outside Paris and authorities had intervened after the suspect showed signs of fever and flu symptoms usually associated with Ebola.
Local authorities later said that a second person was also showing symptoms and "RTL" radio reported that about 60 people were under quarantine.
It would be the first case of the virus appearing in France but authorities here have said there is no "zero risk", and given contacts France has with West African and movement of people between areas, cases may arise. But health authorities speaking in the person of Health Minister Marisol Touraine sought to reassure the public by saying all measures to deal with an Ebola outbreak here have been put in place.
Ebola has also broken out in Spain, with one death and one nurse contaminated but several other people are under observation.
The virus is thought to have killed more than 3,000 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, with a few cases reported in Nigeria.
One person has also died in the United States from Ebola and a second is under observation.