The Hague, Dec 20 (IANS): The Nigerian UN peacekeeper infected with Ebola has been cured after treatment in the Netherlands, it was announced Friday.

"The Nigerian patient who was admitted Dec 6 has been cured of Ebola. He will stay at a military hospital of Dutch defence ministry until he can return home," Xinhua reported citing a statement from the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment.

The health of all those who have taken care of the patient will be closely checked in the coming three weeks, said the statement.

The Nigerian soldier was infected with the deadly disease while working with the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Liberia.

Two weeks ago, he was flown to the Netherlands at the request of the WHO to receive treatment at the university hospital in the city of Utrecht.

He is the first Ebola patient treated in the Netherlands since the outbreak of the disease in West Africa this year.

Ebola has claimed lives of more than 6,900 people, mostly in west Africa.