Have Islamic State Militants in Iraq Contracted Ebola?

The World Health Organization said Wednesday they have offered assistance to Iraqi officials after reports circulated suggesting Islamic State militants in Mosul may have possibly contracted the deadly Ebola virus.

As reported by Mashable, three local outlets published stories indicating that Ebola was found at a hospital in Mosul, an Islamic State-controlled city 250 miles north of Baghdad.

A Kurdish official had told outlets that patients had symptoms that appeared very similar to those with Ebola, Mashable reported.

FILE - In this file photo taken Thursday, June 19, 2014, Islamic State group militants stand with a captured Iraqi army Humvee at a checkpoint outside Beiji refinery, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo, File)

Speaking to The Independent, however, an Iraqi official denied the reports and called them "unfounded" and "incorrect."

According to the health ministry's spokesman, the virus could not be diagnosed in Mosul because the city doesn't have the "diagnostic capabilities."

A WHO representative echoed the ministry's statement about the city having technological shortfalls for diagnosing the virus, but said the organization would continue to look further into the reports.

"WHO is aware of these reports and is working closely with Iraqi MoH to get more information," spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic told The Independent.

"It is unlikely that this case can be a confirmed Ebola case as there is no laboratory facility in Mosul that could do an Ebola test," Jasarevic added.

Christy Feig, WHO's director of communications, previously told Mashable that they had "no official notification [from Iraqi officials] that it is Ebola."

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