The public health institute RIVM said on Friday no ebola checks will be made on passengers arriving at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport because there are no direct flights to countries affected by the disease.

‘Passengers leaving ebola countries have their temperatures checked,’ an RIVM spokesman told news agency ANP. ‘If screening is to be introduced at destinations as well, it should happen in countries with a direct connection to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.’

Britain and the US have said they will step up checks on potentially infected passengers at a number of airports.

There have been several ebola scares in the Netherlands in recent days but all patients have been found to be suffering from malaria instead.