A man from Fukuoka Prefecture who was suspected of contracting the Ebola virus while in West Africa has been cleared, the health ministry said Monday.

The man, who is in his 40s, was admitted to a local hospital after he developed a fever above 38 degrees early Monday. Later in the day, the ministry said blood tests had proved negative for Ebola.

The man recently visited Guinea, one of the nations worst hit by the virus, but had no contact with Ebola patients there before he left May 4, the ministry said.

More than 11,000 people have died from the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. However, the World Health Organization recently declared that the epidemic in Liberia is over, making it the first among the three countries to be considered free of the deadly virus.

In Japan, several people have been suspected of being infected, but all tested negative.

A team formed by a Japanese professor and members of the U.S. National Institutes of Health recently reported that a potential vaccine for Ebola they have developed effectively protects monkeys exposed to the virus.