By Rahman Osman
Follow on twitter @iamrahmanosman
Ghana's national team players the Black Stars were made to undergo tests for the deadly Ebola virus upon arrival in Equatorial Guinea for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations which starts on Saturday, the Ghana FA has revealed.
The Ghana FA posted pictures of players undergoing the tests on arrival in Malabo on Thursday early morning on its official Twitter page.
All 23 players in the Black Stars camp including officials were tested and cleared as not carrying the virus.
- Atsu undergoing test upon arrival
The screening exercise is part of CAF’s medical rules and regulations to reduce the possible spread of the deadly virus, which has claimed over 8000 lives especially in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
“Everyone arriving at the Nations Cup must respect the medical rules and regulations,” CAF said in a statement.
The tough regulations reflect fears of the spread of the deadly haemorrhagic fever that led Morocco to ask for a postponement of the 16-team tournament.
Instead they were stripped of their hosting rights and Equatorial Guinea stepped in at the last moment to take over.
The worst epidemic of the virus on record has killed more than 8,371 people and infected 21,171 in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, according to World Health Organization figures released on Monday.
Guinea are competing at the Nations Cup but the other two countries not.
The demands for the medical check have led Tunisia to cancel plans to have a warm-up game in neighbouring Gabon.
They said it would be too taxing on team logistics to travel to Gabon for the match and then to Malabo for the health checks.
The Black Stars will take on Senegal on the 19th of January before taking on Algeria and South Africa subsequently.