Six people have been tested for the deadly Ebola virus in New York City, with one patient in isolation after returning from West Africa.

According to a CNN report, the man is displaying symptoms of Ebola, but doctors say it is unlikely to be the virus, despite not yet receiving test results.

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Half a dozen other people who recently visited West Africa have been tested for the disease in New York City, but their results were negative.

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The virus, which attacks the immune system, has so far killed over 700 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, and is the worst outbreak in the history of the disease.

Doctors said that those being tested had not been kept in isolation because Ebola is not an an airborne virus.

People in other US states have also been tested, with a woman in Ohio placed in isolation after showing symptoms of the disease. Her tests came back negative.