NEW YORK (AFP) - A patient who was admitted to a New York hospital this week with fever and gastrointestinal symptoms similar to Ebola has tested negative for the virus, the facility said on Wednesday.

"We would like to report that the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have determined that the patient kept in isolation since Monday, August 4, 2014 at The Mount Sinai Hospital has tested negative for Ebola Virus Disease," said a statement.

"The patient is in stable condition, is improving, and remains in the care of our physicians and nurses." The man had recently travelled to West Africa, which is experiencing the largest outbreak of the hemorrhagic fever in history.

A total of 932 people have died since March in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia and Nigeria.

Ebola is spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.

Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, red eyes, diarrhoea, vomiting and bleeding.