quarantining some communities, it said on
Wednesday, rolling out the toughest measures yet
imposed by a West African government to halt the
worst outbreak on record of the deadly Ebola virus.
"This is a major public health emergency. It's fierce,
deadly and many of our countrymen are dying and
we need to act to stop the spread," Lewis Brown,
Liberia's information minister, told Reuters. "We
need the support of the international community
now more than ever. We desperately need all the
help we can get."
Security forces in Liberia were ordered to enforce
the action plan, which includes placing all non-
essential government workers on 30-day
compulsory leave.
Highly infectious Ebola has been blamed for 672
deaths in the West Africa nations of Liberia, Guinea
and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health
Organisation. Liberia accounted for just under one-
fifth of those deaths. The first cases of this outbreak
were confirmed in Guinea's remote southeast early
this year. It then spread to the capital, Conakry, and
into neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The fatality rate of the current outbreak is around 60
percent although the disease can kill up to 90
percent of those who catch it. The illness, called viral
hemorrhagic fever, has symptoms that include
external bleeding, massive internal bleeding,
vomiting, and diarrhea.
The US Peace Corps said on Wednesday it was
temporarily withdrawing 340 volunteers from
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea and that two of its
volunteers had been isolated and were under
observation after coming in contact with a person
who later died of the Ebola virus.
The Peace Corp has 102 volunteers in Guinea, 108 in
Liberia and 130 in Sierra Leone working in
education, health and agriculture.
The State Department has confirmed that one US
citizen died from Ebola in Nigeria after being
infected in Liberia. Two other American aid workers
infected with Ebola, Dr Kent Brantly and missionary
Nancy Writebol, are in serious condition, but they
have shown slight improvement. They were part of a
team in Liberia from North Carolina-based Christian
relief groups Samaritan's Purse and SIM.
'Only health care workers permitted'
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said in a
speech posted on the presidency's website that the
government was considering quarantining several
communities based on the recommendation of the
health ministry. http://www.emansion.gov.lr/
An earlier draft of the measures sent to Reuters
specified communities to be quarantined.
"When these measures are instituted, only
healthcare workers will be permitted to move in and
out of those areas. Food and other medical support
will be provided to those communities and affected
individuals," she said, adding that all markets in
border areas are to be closed.
White House spokesperson Eric Schultz told
reporters that President Barack Obama had been
briefed on Tuesday by his homeland security
adviser, Lisa Monaco, and that the White House was
monitoring the deadly outbreak.
"The CDC (U.S. Centres for Disease Control and
Prevention) has said this is not a risk to the United
States at this time," Schultz told reporters travelling
with the president back to Washington from Kansas
City, Missouri. He said the US government had
increased assistance to countries battling Ebola.
Schultz said the White House would proceed with a
planned US-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington
Augus 4-6 that about 50 Africa leaders are expected
to attend to discuss trade and investment between
the US and Africa.
Liberia's President Surleaf said she would not be
attending the summit but that Vice President Joseph
Nyuma Boakai and a few cabinet ministers "whose
presence are absolutely necessary" would attend.
"We have no plans to change any elements of the
U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit as we believe all air
travel continues to be safe," Schultz said.
Last week, 40-year-old Liberian-American Patrick
Sawyer, a consultant for the Liberian finance
ministry, died from Ebola in Nigeria after having
travelled from Liberia. Authorities in Nigeria, as well
as Ghana and Togo, through which he passed en
route to Lagos, are trying to trace passengers who
were on the same plane as he was.
On Wednesday, Britain held a top-level government
meeting to discuss the spread of Ebola in West
Africa, saying the outbreak was a threat it needed to
respond to.
Overwhelmed
Mike Noyes, head of humanitarian response at
Action Aid UK, said people affected by Ebola should
be treated with compassion and not criminalized.
"Enforced isolation of a whole community is a
medieval approach to controlling the spread of
disease," he said. Some airlines in the region have
cut routes to countries affected by Ebola, even as the
WHO is saying it does not recommend travel
restrictions as a step to control outbreaks.
On Wednesday, Liberian health officials said an
isolation unit for Ebola victims in Liberia's capital,
Monrovia, was overrun with cases and health
workers were being forced to treat up to 20 new
patients in their homes.
Protests by the local community against
construction of an isolation unit at Elwa Hospital
have ended, said Tolbert Nyenswah, an assistant
minister of health, but patients with Ebola symptoms
will have to wait at home until work is finished.
"The staff here are overwhelmed. This is a
humanitarian crisis in Liberia," Nyenswah told
Reuters by telephone.
Nyenswah said the suspected patients were being
treated by trained medical staff with full protective
gear, but it would take at least 24 to 36 hours to
build the new unit.
Initial resistance to building a new isolation unit
highlighted the fear and mistrust health workers
have faced across West Africa as they battle the
outbreak, which has strained the region's weak
health systems.
Dozens of local health workers, including Sierra
Leone and Liberia's leading two Ebola doctors, have
died treating patients.
Samaritans Purse said on Wednesday it would stop
running case-management centers in Liberia after
an attack on employees over the weekend and
resistance from the local community to the
expansion of their unit in Monrovia. The
organization said it was withdrawing non-essential
staff from the country.
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