Pyongyang's response to Ebola: every foreigner in quarantine for 3 weeks

North Korean officials plan to quarantine every single foreigner for 21 days over fears of Ebola - even though not a single case of the disease has been reported in the country.

The drastic announcement distributed to foreign diplomatic missions in Pyongyang said that, regardless of country or region of origin, all foreigners would be quarantined under medical observation for three weeks.

It said foreigners from affected areas would be quarantined at one set of locations, while those from unaffected areas would be sent to other locations, including hotels.

It said the staff of diplomatic missions and international organisations in North Korea would be allowed to stay in their residences.

A copy of the document was obtained by The Associated Press yesterday.

More than 13,700 people have become ill in the Ebola outbreak, and nearly 5,000 of them have died. Nearly all the cases have occurred in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, though there were 20 in Nigeria, four in the US and one each in Mali, Senegal and Spain. None have been reported in Asia.