BELLEVILLE, Ont. - A patient at Belleville General Hospital in southern Ontario has tested negative for the Ebola virus.

The hospital posted a statement on its website late Tuesday night that said lab tests have confirmed the patient does not have the disease.

The patient had recently returned to Canada from West Africa where Ebola has killed nearly half of the more than 9,000 people diagnosed with the virus.

The patient had some symptoms common with Ebola, and as a precaution was placed in an isolation unit until test results were confirmed.

The World Health Organization warned on Tuesday that within two months the Ebola infection rate in West Africa could top 10,000 people per week.

Though more than two dozen patients have been tested for the disease in Canada, none have been positive.