AC Milan midfielder Michael Essien is considering suing the media outlets which spread the rumour that he had contracted the Ebola virus.
Essien, 31, and his club both issued a denial of the fabricated reports via Twitter, after initially thinking it had all been a joke.
"It was Sunday night and I was at home in the best possible situation -- relaxing on the couch, watching English Sky Sports. I was in my element," explained Ghana international Essien in Italy's La Repubblica.
"The phone rang and it was [Milan's chief medical officer] Dr [Rodolfo] Tavana. I thought 'what does he want at this time?' I replied and he says 'there's somebody on the internet saying that you've got Ebola. It's not true, is it?'
"I burst out laughing, and he was laughing with me. I told him I'm as fit as a fiddle. Five minutes later, our head press officer Riccardo Coli calls me saying: 'Somebody's spreading a comment from me that we're stunned by your illness, but obviously it's all fake.'
"I was still laughing and he sent me the link where these rumours were and that was it. Only then, the following morning while I was out like a light sleeping, I got a call from my mum in Ghana, worried to death, and she asked me how I was."
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I'm very fit and very healthy,No truth in the internet rumours that I have contracted Ebola.im well & will be training as usual tomorrow.The Ebola virus is a very serious issue and people shouldn't joke about it.Whoever wrote this article is very unprofessional and insensitive...!!!#Jahbless✌️
At that point, Essien said, he realised it was not a laughing matter.
"It was funny to begin with, but we're talking about a dangerous virus," he continued. "Actually, it's lethal. You can't treat reports like that lightly. There are many people dying, in Africa. That's why I'm now talking to my solicitors and we're ascertaining whether there is any scope for legal action."
No truth in internet rumours that I have contracted Ebola.i m very well & I'm doing very gud & will be training as usual tomorrow.#falsenews
- Michael Essien (@MichaelEssien) October 12, 2014
The true victims of Ebola deserve better and our thoughts & prayers are with them and their families.#sue
- Michael Essien (@MichaelEssien) October 12, 2014
Meanwhile, RMC have published an email from the French Football League's (LFP) Medical Commission in which they warn Ligue 1 clubs about the risk of Ebola.
The west African nations hit by the deadly virus and still involved in Africa Cup of Nations 2015 qualifying -- Guinea and Sierra Leone -- both played last week's home games against Ghana and Cameroon respectively outside their countries in a bid to reduce the risk of the disease spreading.
Ligue 1 clubs employ a large number of African internationals, though the email reminded them "the risk of coming into contact with the illness is low in the conditions in which footballers move around (aeroplane, hotel, stadium...)."
It goes on to detail the incubation period, the means of transmission, and also the measures to be taken to help prevent the spread, such as the use of an anti-bacterial handwash.
It adds that if a person returning from Africa develops a fever -- one of the symptoms of Ebola -- medical staff should rather investigate whether or not the patient is suffering from malaria.
"The risk of an epidemic in Europe is all the smaller because our health systems are adapted to dealing with such cases, something which unfortunately the African health systems cannot do," Professor Francois Bricaire, a tropical and infectious diseases expert at a Paris hospital, is cited as saying.
ESPN correspondent Ian Holyman contributed to this report.