Liberia finds Ebola patients who fled isolation ward

Suspected Ebola patients who fled when armed men attacked an isolation centre in Monrovia, capital of Liberia, on Sunday, have been found.

The missing patients have now been relocated from the primary school where the incident took place to an expanded treatment unit, which was recently commissioned at the John F Kennedy Memorial Medical Centre in the capital, Monrovia.

“We are glad to confirm that all of the individuals have been accounted for and have now been transferred to JFK Ebola specialist treatment centre,” Lewis Brown, Liberia’s information minister told Reuters.

In an attempt to douse tension over the escape of the patients, the Liberian government initially denied that the patients were missing.

Their escape could have led to a massive spread of the highly-contagious disease, as some of their personal belongings were looted during the attack.

Security has reportedly been revved up at different health centres where Ebola victims are receiving treatment in the country.

Meanwhile, as a means of preventing the spread of Ebola, Liberia’s armed forces has reportedly been given the order to shoot people trying to cross the border illegally from Sierra Leone, one of the four West African countries hit by the epidemic.

“Soldiers stationed in Bomi and Grand Cape Mount counties, which border Sierra Leone, have been ordered to shoot on sight any person trying to cross the border”, said colonel Eric Dennis, Liberia’s deputy chief of staff.

Despite closing its borders with neighbouring countries including Sierra Leone, reports still have it that people have continue to cross the border illegally.

Since February when the disease, which has claimed an estimated 1, 229 people, was first recorded in Guinea, Liberia is known to have suffered the highest casualty.