Officials in Saudi Arabia have quelled fears of the spread of deadly diseases like Ebola and MERS as 2 million Muslims made their way to Mecca for the start of the annual Hajj pilgrimage on Thursday.

In order to prevent the spread of Ebola, Saudi Arabia banned pilgrims from West African countries like Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia from getting visas to participate in the five-day religious ritual, reports BBC News. As a result, 7,400 Muslims were excluded from this year's ceremony.

Officials also mandated all visitors to fill out medical screening cards and disclose their travels over the last 21 days.

Officials said that no one at Hajj has been affected by Ebola, which is estimated to have caused over 3,300 deaths in West Africa, according to the World Health Organization.

Manal Mansour, the head of Saudi Health Ministry's department for prevention of infectious diseases, also said that the kingdom is taking extra measures to ensure the safety and health of the pilgrims.

"The most important precaution that (the kingdom) has taken was to restrict visas from the affected areas," she told The Associated Press.

Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki also told the AP that the kingdom is taking precaution to maintain the safety from continuous terrorist threats.

"We have confronted al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia, and we have defeated them," Al-Turki said. "But of course at the same time being we are still considering the threat, which is a continuous threat, and therefore we have actually enforced our security readiness at all the borders of Saudi Arabia."

Nonetheless, Zaid Ajaz Amane, a Pilgrim from the United Kingdom, said he feels safe in Mecca.

"I don't have to fear anything from anybody because I'm coming to God's house," he said.

During hajj, huge crowds gather around the Kaaba in Mecca as part of a five-day spiritual journey, which is meant to cleanse the faithful of sin and connect them to God.