WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration is considering the possibility of quarantining healthcare workers returning to the United States from the Ebola hot zone of West Africa, after a New York doctor who treated Ebola patients there tested positive for the virus.

Mr Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told Reuters on Friday that quarantine is among a number of options being discussed by officials from across the administration.

The CDC-led discussions began on Thursday after Dr Craig Spencer became the fourth person diagnosed with the disease in the United States, Mr Skinner said.