South Africa bans travellers entering from Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa said on Thursday that due to fears over the spread of the Ebola virus it was banning travellers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone from entering the country, apart from its own citizens.

The deadly Ebola disease has killed more than 1,300 people this year in the three small west African states and also has a toehold in Nigeria, Africa's biggest economy.

Travellers from Nigeria, where there is a much smaller outbreak, will be allowed entry. South African citizens returning from the three highest risk countries will be permitted entry but will be subject to a stricter screening process, a government statement said.

(Reporting by Joe Brock; Editing by Pascal Fletcher)