PRETORIA (AFP) - South Africa on Thursday issued a ban on non-citizens travelling from three west African countries worst affected by Ebola.

A Health Ministry statement declared "a total travel ban for all non-citizens travelling from these high-risk countries", referring to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

South Africans returning home from these areas will undergo strict screening, it added. The authorities also barred non-essential travel to the three countries.

South Africa has so far been Ebola-free despite two scares in as many weeks: a South African man returning from Liberia and a Guinean woman. Both tested negative.

Johannesburg is a major hub for air travel between southern Africa and the rest of the continent.