GUINEA CLOSES BORDERS WITH LIBERIA & SIERRA LEONE AS EBOLA DEATH COUNT NEARS 1,000

Guinea Closes Borders With Liberia & Sierra Leone As Ebola Death Count Nears 1000

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/09/2014 12:51 -0400

In an effort to stop people entering the country, The BBC reports, Guinea said it was closing its borders. "We have provisionally closed the frontier between Guinea and Sierra Leone [and Liberia] because of all the news that we have received from there recently," Health Minister Remy Lamah told a news conference. Ironically, the latest outbreak is thought to have begun in Guinea, but Liberia and Sierra Leone are currently facing the highest frequency of new cases. It appears things are not going according to plan...

As The BBC reports,

The total number of cases in the current outbreak stands at 1,779, the WHO said on Friday, with 959 deaths.



The most recent figures from 5 and 6 August showed 68 new cases and 29 deaths.



They included 26 new cases in Sierra Leone and 38 in Liberia, but no new cases in Guinea, where the outbreak began.



Guinea said it was closing its borders in order to stop people from entering the country.



"We have provisionally closed the frontier between Guinea and Sierra Leone because of all the news that we have received from there recently," Health Minister Remy Lamah told a news conference.



He added that Guinea had also closed its border with Liberia.



Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have already declared varying levels of emergency over the spread of the virus.



The most intense outbreak in Guinea was located in the region along the border with Liberia and Sierra Leone.



The WHO had said the worst-affected area, which straddles the borders between the three countries, would be isolated and treated as a "unified zone".

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"The possible consequences of further international spread are particularly serious in view of the virulence of the virus," WHO said after a meeting on Friday.