Apple has denied rumours that the company's chief executive, Steve Jobs, suffered a heart attack.
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The story, which eminated from online citizen journalist site iReport, and then quickly spread to other blogs and forums, was refuted by an Apple spokesperson.
"The rumours that he has had a heart attack are untrue," said Apple.
The health of the Apple chief executive has been a cause of concern to technology bloggers, analysts and investors for some months.
In July, at the launch of the iPhone 3G in San Francisco, Mr Jobs' gaunt appearance caused a flurry of worry, and lead to speculation that the pancreatic cancer he successfully fought in 2004 had returned. In September, the online news wire service Bloomberg accidentally published Mr Jobs' stock obituary, although the story was swiftly removed once the error had been spotted.
Apple's chief has done his best to laugh off the rumours. At last month's "Let's Rock" event, to unveil a new iPod line-up, Mr Jobs appeared less thin and in good spirits, and joked that reports of his death had been greatly exaggerated.