The patient, who has not been named, was first admitted to Faversham Cottage Hospital in June but has so far resisted treatment.

Kent and Medway Health Authority offered the screening to about 50 staff and a "handful" of patients who had come into contact with the man as a precautionary measure.

A spokesman for the authority said: "We have to check out if anybody has been infected. We did the same sort of exercise at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital a couple of years ago.

"Then there were 500 potential contacts and it turned out that no-one was infected. It is purely precautionary."

The patient has been moved to Darent Valley Hospital where there is a pressurised treatment room.