South Korea on Friday issued a special travel advisory for Nigeria's Ebola-hit capital Lagos as part of efforts to control the spread of the virus, the health ministry said.

During an emergency meeting of relevant ministries on how to deal with the outbreak in West Africa, the government decided to issue the special travel advisory effective immediately, advising its citizens to leave the region and cancel non-essential trips there, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

The move came hours after the World Health Organization declared the Ebola epidemic ravaging West Africa an international health emergency requiring coordinated global action.

So far, Nigeria has identified seven cases, and two of those infected have died.

Last week, the Seoul government also issued special travel warnings for Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

"We are also planning to dispatch medical staff and epidemic researchers to West Africa to assess developments and prepare for possible cases among our people there," said ministry official Kwon Joon-wook.

In an effort to prevent the virus entering the country, the ministry has also decided to step up quarantine of those who have visited the virus-affected countries.

"Ministries concerned will boost coordination against the epidemic, while joining the global efforts to tackle the virus. But the chances of the virus entering the country are low," Kwon said, asking people not "to be worried too much."

Since the first reports of the outbreak in March, nearly 1,000 people have died after being infected with Ebola hemorrhagic fever, mainly in West Africa.

(Yonhap)