Kenya Airways officials said they will suspend flights to and from countries badly affected by the Ebola outbreak as a measure to prevent the spread of the virus.

The flight restriction is designed to limit the entry of passengers who have visited Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. However, Nigeria is not included on their list of direct flight ban as it only has few Ebola cases.

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The suspension is temporary but the officials did not say how long it will last.

According to reports, this measure undertaken by Kenya Airways is a result of the World Health Organization (WHO)'s statement that Ebola toll is "vastly underestimated."

In the same statement posted on its website last Thursday, the WHO classified Kenya as one of the nations with high risk of Ebola infection, albeit with zero cases at present. The health agency added that this classification is due to Kenya Airways' direct flights to Monrovia and Freetown, capital cities of Liberia and Sierra Leone respectively.

On Friday, Kenyan Transport Minister Michael Kamau said he "regretted" the WHO statement and that they will not ban flights to the said destinations. But now, it has joined the nations enforcing tight measures in terms of transport ban and border control.

For example, Korean Air Lines suspended flights to Kenya, following WHO's statement. Other nations in West Africa also enforced similar transport control measures.

Kenya Airways' ban on direct flights, however, has an exemption. They will allow entry of Kenyan citizens and health professionals coming home from the affected countries but they will have to endure tight screening.

The deadly Ebola virus has already infected more than 2,000 people in West Africa since the outbreak's onset in March. It can easily be transferred through an infected person's bodily fluids and secretions.

TagsKenya Airways, Ebola outbreak, WHO