CONAKRY, (Reuters) – West African leaders agreed yesterday to take stronger measures to try to bring the worst outbreak of Ebola under control and prevent it spreading outside the region, including steps to isolate rural communities ravaged by the disease.
The World Health Organisation and medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres said yesterday the outbreak, which has killed 729 people in four West African countries, was out of control and more resources were urgently needed to deal with it.
WHO chief Margaret Chan told a meeting of the presidents of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – the countries worst affected – that the epidemic was outpacing efforts to contain it and warned of catastrophic consequences in lost lives and economic disruption if the situation were allowed to deteriorate.
“The presidents recognise the serious nature of the Ebola outbreak in their countries,” Chan said after the meeting.
“They are determined to take extraordinary measures to stop Ebola in their countries.”
In a communique after their talks, the leaders agreed to deploy security forces to isolate the frontier regions where 70 percent of the 1,323 cases have been detected.
They banned the transportation of anyone showings signs of disease across borders, and pledged to introduce strict controls at international airports to prevent the virus spreading outside the region.
There was international alarm last week when a U.S. citizen died of Ebola in Nigeria – Africa’s most populous country – after flying there from Liberia.
Two people quarantined in Lagos after coming into contact with him were released on Friday after they tested negative for the disease.
The three leaders also agreed to step up efforts to protect local healthcare workers and encourage them to return to work.
With healthcare systems struggling to cope with the highly infectious disease, which requires rigorous precautions to stop it spreading, more than 60 medical workers have lost their lives, hampering efforts to tackle the outbreak.
