The envoy confirmed this at a news briefing in Abuja, said that 60 Nigerians are resident in the city where the outbreak was first recorded.

The total number of people infected with the virus rose to 17,238 across the country, after 2,829 new cases were reported.

Other countries have rushed to evacuate their citizens from Hubei province and its capital city, Wuhan, while many have also imposed extraordinary travel restrictions on travellers to and from China.