The ministry's representatives made the statement during a Monday meeting chaired by Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long o­n the measures Vietnam will take to prevent the highly fatal Ebola virus from entering the country.

The virus is now believed to have infected 1,779 people and killed 961, according to latest figures by the World Health Organization. 

The health ministry asked the foreign ministry for its cooperation in actively protecting Vietnamese citizens in Ebola-stricken areas.

Deputy Minister Long asked the Ministry of Public Security to work closely with international health agencies to closely screen all arrivals from west African nations in the grip of Ebola outbreaks.

Long also asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to keep a close watch o­n the importation of food and animals as he said Ebola has been detected in at least 10 different types of animals.

He told attendants at the meeting that Vietnam started requiring passengers arriving from Ebola-stricken areas to submit health declaration forms at Vietnamese international airports o­n Monday.

Hoang Duc Hanh, deputy director of the Hanoi health department, said 187 passengers arriving from Libya o­n Monday had undergone medical screening.

The World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have pledged to provide Vietnam with needed equipment to detect the Ebola virus.

Currently, the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hanoi and the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City represent the two authorized agencies in Vietnam that perform tests to detect the Ebola virus.