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Ebola virus: Liberia health system 'falling apart' Ebola virus: Liberia health system 'overtaxed'
(about 5 hours later)
The charity Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) has told the BBC that Liberia's medical services have been completely overwhelmed by the Ebola outbreak. Liberia's information minister has admitted that the country's health care system has been overwhelmed by the spread of the deadly Ebola virus.
The MSF co-ordinator in Liberia said official figures were "under-representing the reality", and that the health system was "falling apart". Lewis Brown told the BBC the system had been "overtaxed" by the outbreak, but that authorities were doing their best in the face of an unprecedented crisis.
The medical charity MSF said officials underestimated the outbreak and that the health system was "falling apart".
Nearly 1,000 people have died and 1,800 have become infected in West Africa.Nearly 1,000 people have died and 1,800 have become infected in West Africa.
Meanwhile, neighbouring Guinea has denied earlier reports that it had sealed its borders. The Ebola outbreak - the worst-ever - is centred on Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, but has spread to other countries in recent months.
On Saturday Liberian police broke up a protest against the government's response. Mr Lewis told the BBC that the outbreak was affecting Liberia's most populated areas, and that people there were "in denial".
The Ebola outbreak - the worst ever - is centred on Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, but has spread to other countries in recent months. "There are religious practices and beliefs, long-held traditional values that are being challenged by the procedures... to cure or at least prevent the spread of disease," he said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that the virus was a global health emergency. He said Liberia's health care system was "not the best in the wold", but rejected accusations that it had not responded quickly enough. The crisis, Mr Lewis added, would have "overstretched and overtaxed" any health system.
The MSF co-ordinator for Liberia, Lindis Hurum, told the BBC: "Our capacity is stretched beyond anything that we ever done before in regards to ebola response." "The bottom line is we are at the frontline of a deadly outbreak," Mr Lewis said.
Earlier, the co-ordinator for Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) in Liberia, Lindis Hurum, told the BBC: "Our capacity is stretched beyond anything that we ever done before in regards to Ebola response."
She said five of the biggest hospitals in the capital Monrovia had closed for more than a week.She said five of the biggest hospitals in the capital Monrovia had closed for more than a week.
"Some of them have now started to re-open but there are other hospitals in other counties that are just abandoned by the staff. "Some of them have now started to re-open but there are other hospitals in other counties that are just abandoned by the staff."
"We are definitely seeing the whole health care system that is falling apart."
'Inaccurate' information'Inaccurate' information
On Saturday demonstrators in Liberia blocked a highway, saying authorities had not been collecting the bodies of some victims.On Saturday demonstrators in Liberia blocked a highway, saying authorities had not been collecting the bodies of some victims.
The army was then deployed to restrict movement, particularly from the worst-affected provinces to the capital.The army was then deployed to restrict movement, particularly from the worst-affected provinces to the capital.
In Guinea, the health minister on Saturday said the borders with Liberia and Sierra Leone had been closed to prevent infected people crossing into the country. Meanwhile Guinea has denied earlier reports that the government had sealed borders with Liberia and Sierra Leone.
However, state television later said: "Guinea has not closed its borders with Sierra Leone or with Liberia. It's rather that we have taken health measures at the border posts." State TV said the initial announcement - made by the health minister on Saturday - had been mistaken
A government source told Reuters that the minister who made the original announcement had not been in possession of accurate information. "Guinea has not closed its borders with Sierra Leone or with Liberia. It's rather that we have taken health measures at the border posts," it said.
The Ebola virus was first discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976. It is transmitted between humans through bodily fluids. The Spanish government says a Roman Catholic priest, infected with Ebola in Liberia, will be treated with an experimental drug, Zmapp, in a hospital in Madrid. The drug has been used in the US on two aid workers who have shown signs of improvement.
Animals such as fruit bats carry the virus, which can be transmitted to humans through contact with blood or consumption of bushmeat. In Canada, test results on a patient being treated near Toronto after returning from Nigeria with flu-like symptoms have shown he does not have the virus, officials said on Sunday.
The Ebola virus is transmitted between humans through bodily fluids.
Ebola virus disease (EVD)Ebola virus disease (EVD)