Ebola in Guinea & Liberia

As of press time, 86 people had died in Guinea and another six in Liberia from ebola virus, a highly infectious disease that causes severe hemorrhaging, vomiting and diarrhea. Five cases of hemorrhagic fever in Sierra Leone had yet to be confirmed as ebola. 

The current outbreak began in rural areas of southeast Guinea and spread to the capital, Conarky. Guinea’s health ministry has outlawed the consumption of bats, a suspected vector of the virus.

The World Health Organization says the outbreak is limited geographically and is not an epidemic. Senegal has closed its border with Guinea, and Saudi Arabia has suspended travel visas for Muslim pilgrims from Guinea and Liberia.