SHENZHEN, Aug. 27 -- A Chinese returnee from Nigeria who was hospitalized as "an observation case of Ebola" in the southern city of Shenzhen has been confirmed not to be infected with the virus, local health authorities said on Wednesday.

The man, who worked in the construction sector in the Nigerian economic hub of Lagos, had a fever when he arrived in Shenzhen on Aug. 22, according to the municipal health and family planning commission.

He was sent to the Shenzhen No. 3 People's Hospital and his body temperature returned to normal after treatment. Ebola was ruled out by testing after the man spent 72 hours in quarantine, according to the commission.

The current Ebola Virus Disease outbreak started in Guinea last February, and close to 1,500 people have so far died in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria in what the WHO describes as the deadliest outbreak in the history of the disease.