A plastic bottle sent to the New Zealand Herald’s mailroom is to be tested in Melbourne for the deadly Ebola virus.

Auckland police were called after a suspicious package arrived at the newspaper’s mailroom about 9.30am.

The bottle contained a small amount of liquid and one of the documents which came with it made mention of Ebola.

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Detective Inspector Scott Beard says the package has been secured and sent to forensic scientists at Environmental Science and Research (ESR).

There it will be swabbed for DNA and checked for fingerprints before being sent to Melbourne for testing. Results are expected within a few days.

“Police are often called to deal with and investigate the origins and contents of suspicious packages,” Det Insp Beard said.

“The vast majority of them turn out to be benign but we don’t take any chances. This is no exception.”

Det Insp Beard said health officials assured the small number of staff in the mailroom that the risk of contamination from anything in the bottle was almost non-existent.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman quickly put out a statement saying there was no evidence that New Zealand had a suspected Ebola case, and that nobody was being treated for Ebola in any New Zealand hospital.