Ebola: Liberia declares state of emergency

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has declared a state of emergency as the country grapples with an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus.

Speaking on national television, she said some civil liberties might have to be suspended.

The Ebola outbreak has also hit Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, killing more than 930 people.

World Health Organization (WHO) experts are meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss a response to the outbreak.

The two-day meeting is expected decide whether to declare a global health emergency.

Ebola, a viral haemorrhagic fever, is one of the deadliest diseases known to humans, with a fatality rate in this outbreak of between 50% and 60%. It is spread through contact with the bodily fluids of Ebola patients showing symptoms.

Already reports are reaching Monrovia that a military blockade is stopping people from western regions of Grand Cape Mount and Bomi, where Ebola is prevalent, from entering the capital.

These counties largely rely on Monrovia for their goods – and the blockade means that the cities of Robertsport and Tubmanburg are now cut off. One Tubmanburg resident phoned into a radio show to complain that rice, the national staple, was already in short supply in the market.

The head of the National Health Workers Association said while the state of emergency was necessary, people should have been given time to prepare. Fear has prompted hospital workers to abandon clinics – meaning many are now shut.

President Sirleaf said this meant many diseases prevalent during the rainy season, such as malaria and typhoid, are going untreated and may lead to unnecessary and preventable deaths.

Announcing a 90-day state of emergency, President Sirleaf said the government and people of Liberia required “extraordinary measures for the very survival of our state and for the protection of the lives of our people”.

She said “ignorance and poverty, as well as entrenched religious and cultural practices, continue to exacerbate the spread of the disease”.

Observers say the Ebola crisis in Liberia has got worse because many people are keeping sick relatives at home instead of taking them to isolation centres.