Liberia President Terms Step to Declare Emergency Necessary for the “Very Survival of State”

Stating that extraordinary measures are necessary for the “very survival of our state” following the deadly Ebola outbreak, Liberia President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has declared a state of emergency in the country.

Speaking of "a clear and present danger" from the virus, she announced in a speech the state of emergency for a minimum of 90 days, which will be presented to parliament on Thursday.

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Ebola is caused by a virus via direct contact with body fluids or infected blood. Scientists have identified five types of Ebola or Ebola hemorrhagic fever virus.

Some 300 Liberians have been infected by the tropical disease, which has been raging in west Africa's forests since the start of the year. More than half of those who have caught it have died.

"The threat continues to grow," warned Sirleaf.

"Ignorance, poverty, as well as entrenched religious and cultural practices continue to exacerbate the spread of the disease," she added.

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Highest alert for an all-hands on deck response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa was issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday.

The Liberian leader had already called for three days of fasting and prayer to ask for divine intervention against her country's deadliest-ever Ebola outbreak.

"The scope and scale of the epidemic, the virulence and deadliness of the virus now exceed the capacity and statutory responsibility of any one government agency or ministry," she said in her state-of-emergency speech.

Ebola Virus Death Toll Nears 1000 Mark
The World Health Organization has confirmed an additional 108 lives have been lost in the Ebola outbreak, taking the total death toll to 932 while the number of cases has crossed the 1,700 mark.

The latest official toll across west Africa hit 932 deaths since the start of the year, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, with 1,711 confirmed cases, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Fears are rising that the disease is also taking hold in Africa's most populous nation of Nigeria, after a second death among seven confirmed cases in Lagos.

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An elderly Spanish missionary who has been infected with the Ebola virus in Liberia will be flying back in an air force plane.

Source-AFP