An American cruise ship has been refused permission to dock at the Mexican island of Cozumel due to fears one of its passengers could have been infected with Ebola.

The ship, Carnival Magic, left from Texas with a Dallas health worker onboard, who may have had contact with specimens from the first patient diagnosed with Ebola in the United States.

A Mexican port official said they decided against the ship's docking as a preventive measure against Ebola.

The woman and her husband have been isolated on a cruise ship, but are showing no symptoms of the disease, the US state department said.

The Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital worker, who did not have direct contact with now-deceased Liberian patient Thomas Eric Duncan but could have processed his bodily fluids, left Sunday on a cruise from Galveston, state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.

The news added to growing concerns about the possible spread of Ebola in the United States after two nurses who cared for Mr Duncan contracted the deadly virus, which has killed more than 4,500 people, mostly in West Africa.

It comes as EU Leaders will hold a summit in Brussels this week on ways to tackle the deadly epidemic.

Unicef spokesman John James says help is desperately needed: