BBC Online :
Guinea has a declared a national health emergency as it battles to curb the spread of the deadly Ebola virus.
This meant tighter border controls, the immediate isolation of anyone suspected to have Ebola and a ban on moving bodies from one town to another, state radio reported.
Ebola has killed more than 1,000 people in West Africa amid fears that it could spread to East Africa. This is the deadliest outbreak since the disease was discovered in 1976.
There is no cure for Ebola, but the first consignment of the experimental drug, ZMapp, has arrived in Liberia from the US, reports the BBC’s Jonathan Paye-Layleh from the capital, Monrovia.
On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) approved giving patients untested drugs.
Ebola’s initial flu-like symptoms can lead to external haemorrhaging from areas such as eyes and gums, and internal bleeding which can lead to organ failure. Patients have a better chance of survival if they receive early treatment.
The outbreak began in Guinea in February and has killed 377 people in the country.
It has since spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, which have all declared a national health emergency, claiming a total of 1,069 lives by Wednesday, according to WHO.
Guinea’s President Alpha Conde, in a statement read out on state radio, said people who had been in contact with Ebola victims were “formally banned from leaving their homes until the end of their surveillance period.”
