The HSE has confirmed that laboratory test samples for a suspected case of Ebola in Donegal have proved negative for the virus.

43-year-old Dessie Quinn from Mountcharles was found dead yesterday morning having recently returned from West Africa. He was being treated for malaria.

After his death there were fears he had contracted Ebola. His remains had been kept in isolation as a precaution, with the HSE saying "the appropriate national guidelines, in line with international best practice, are being followed by the public health team dealing with the situation."

The HSE also expressed its condolences to the individual’s family and friends for their loss.

The infection control procedures will now be stepped down, although the cause of death has not yet been revealed.

It follows the news that Senegal has closed its border with Guinea, where the outbreak first appeared earlier this year.

Yesterday, two Americans aid workers who had contracted the virus were discharged from Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr Brantly and fellow aid worker Nancy Writebol were both infected while working at a missionary clinic outside Liberia's capital Monrovia but have now been discharged from hospital.

The Ebola outbreak has killed at least 1,350 people across Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria in western Africa.