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Ebola outbreak: Guinea searches for missing health team Ebola outbreak: Health team 'held captive' in Guinea
(about 2 hours later)
Guinea has sent a team to find missing health officials who were attacked two days ago while visiting a village to raise awareness about Ebola. Officials in Guinea say a team of health workers and journalists who were trying to raise awareness about Ebola may have been kidnapped.
Unconfirmed reports suggest they may have been kidnapped or even killed. The team of six went missing after being attacked on Tuesday in a village near the southern city of Nzerekore.
The officials had fled Wamey village in Nzerekore region after their group was pelted with stones. Reports say a Guinean delegation to find them, led by the health minister, has been unable to reach the village after a nearby bridge was destroyed.
The Ebola outbreak has now killed at least 2,622 people in Guinea, as well as Liberia and Sierra Leone, the World Health Organization says. More than 2,600 people have now died from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
It is the world's worst outbreak of the deadly disease, with officials warning that more than 20,000 people could ultimately be infected.It is the world's worst outbreak of the deadly disease, with officials warning that more than 20,000 people could ultimately be infected.
A three-day lockdown is starting in Sierra Leone at 00.00 GMT on Friday in a bid to stop the disease spreading. The UN Security Council is due to discuss the outbreak later on Thursday.
Last month, riots erupted in the area of Guinea where the health workers went missing - near where the outbreak was first recorded - following rumours that medics were contaminating people when they started spraying a market to disinfect it. Last month, riots erupted in the area of Guinea where the health team went missing - near where the outbreak was first recorded - after rumours that medics who were disinfecting a market were contaminating people.
The missing people are thought to include journalists as well as local officials. The three doctors and three journalists went missing on Tuesday after residents in the village of Wamey pelted them with stones as they visited the village.
Ebola virus disease (EVD) One of the journalists managed to escape and told reporters that she could hear the villagers looking for them while she was hiding.
One journalist who escaped during the attack in the village said her colleagues may have been kidnapped because, while she was hiding, she heard the villagers looking for them. This has not been independently confirmed. The governor of Nzerekore told the BBC that the group were being held captive, although it remains unclear why.
The BBC's Makeme Bamba, in the Guinean capital Conakry, says that at the moment, the government delegation, which is led by the health minister, cannot reach the village by road because the main bridge leading to it has been destroyed. A government delegation, including the health minister and the communications minister, has been dispatched to the region but the BBC's Makeme Bamba, in the Guinean capital Conakry, says the delegation have been unable to reach the village by road because a main bridge has been destroyed.
The team is negotiating with local elders to try to gain access, she says.The team is negotiating with local elders to try to gain access, she says.
There have been many reports of people in the region saying they do not believe Ebola exists, or refusing to cooperate with health authorities, fearing that a diagnosis means certain death.There have been many reports of people in the region saying they do not believe Ebola exists, or refusing to cooperate with health authorities, fearing that a diagnosis means certain death.
Earlier on Thursday a French aid worker from the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) reportedly contracted the Ebola virus in Liberia. Earlier on Thursday, the World Health Organisation said more than 700 new cases of Ebola had emerged in West Africa in just one week, showing that the outbreak is accelerating.
The woman is being repatriated to Paris under maximum security. It said there had been more than 5,300 cases in total and that half of those were recorded in the past three weeks.
Cumulative deaths - up to 13 September The epidemic has struck Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria and Senegal.
A three-day lockdown is starting in Sierra Leone at 00.00 GMT on Friday in a bid to stop the disease spreading.
Ebola virus disease (EVD)
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Have you been affected by the Ebola outbreak? You can send us your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.ukHave you been affected by the Ebola outbreak? You can send us your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk