African Countries Clamping Down On Ebola Quarantine
Officials in Sierra Leone and Liberia are clamping down on travelers in their nation as they try to enforce a strict quarantine to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus.
Soldiers reportedly stopped people trying to travel from Liberia's rural areas to its capital of Monrovia in attempt to curb the virus that has seen a spike in cases for the African country's more remote populations.
When announcing the national quarantine efforts, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said this recent outbreak requires "extraordinary measures for the very survival of our state and for the protection of the lives of our people."
"Ignorance, poverty, as well as entrenched religious and cultural practices continue to exacerbate the spread of the disease especially in the counties," Sirleaf added.
Since the outbreak began back in March 2014, over 900 people have died of the deadly virus, also known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever. The virus also appears to be escalating ,as there were a higher amount of deaths in the first three days of August.
This recent outbreak, the largest in history, still remains isolated to West Africa, specifically Liberia and Sierra Leone, where 60 percent of the deaths have taken place, according to the World Health Organization.
Two American aid workers from a clinic in Liberia were recently transported to a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia for treatment and are said to be improving after receiving an experimental serum. Doctor Kent Brantly and clinic worker Nancy Writebol were infected with the virus in late July while working with Samaritan's Purse, an evangelical humanitarian organization.
