Free Republic

MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA—Saudi Arabia sought to assure the public that the kingdom was safe and free of health scares as an estimated 2 million Muslims streamed into a sprawling tent city near Mecca on Thursday for the start of the annual Islamic hajj pilgrimage. Earlier this year, Saudi authorities banned people from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea — the countries hardest hit in the Ebola epidemic — from getting visas as a precaution against the virus. The decision has affected a total of 7,400 pilgrims from the three countries. Ebola is believed to have sickened more than 7,100 people in...

Saudi Arabia has announced it will be rejecting pilgrims from Ebola-stricken nations who want to observe the annual Hajj in Mecca. This is to reduce risks of the virus getting into the Muslim country. Hospitals and relative medical institutions have reportedly been alerted to prepare in case the Ebola springs up at one of the pilgrims already within the country. Over 22,000 general practitioners have also been tapped to deal with the pilgrims should any medical emergency arise. Visas to pilgrims from those countries will not be entertained, the Saudi government said, according to the same report.