Rio de Janeiro, October 13 (RHC-EFE) --The Guinean Souleymane Bah, hospitalized since late last week in Rio de Janeiro, tested negative in his first diagnosis for Ebola, the Brazilian Health Ministry said Saturday.

The patient is asymptomatic and in apparently good health, but will continue in isolation until results of his second test are in, and for which blood samples were taken from him on Sunday, 48 hours after the first taken last Friday, according to a communique.

If the result of the second test is also negative, the patient will be released from the isolation unit and the system will be dismantled that was set up to keep watch on the health of 64 people who possibly came in contact with Bah since last Wednesday, when he showed symptoms for the first time.

At a press conference in Brasilia, Health Minister Arthur Chioro said that none of the 64 possible contacts has shown symptoms and confirmed that Bah remains in "stable" condition, and "without any signs of symptoms."

The Guinean has also tested negative for malaria and dengue, the ministry said.

The second test for Ebola, like the first, will be done at the Evandro Chagas Institute, a laboratory specializing in tropical diseases and hemorrhagic fevers, located in the Amazon city of Belen, capital of Para state.

Bah left Guinea on September 18th, landed in Brazil the next day, and then went to a medical center in Cascavel in the southern Brazilian state of Parana, saying that the day before he had suffered from fever, coughing and a sore throat.