Liberia closes border with Guinea

MONROVIA/CONAKRY: Liberia closed its border with Guinea on Tuesday as a precaution against Ebola following at least four deaths from the virus in Guinea, Information Minister Lenn Eugene Nagbe said.
The deaths have occurred since Feb. 29, while Liberia was declared free of new transmissions of the virus in January.
“We have ordered the border with Guinea closed with immediate effect. The border will remain closed until the situation in Guinea improves,” Nagbe told Reuters.
“We are not taking any chance at all.” A team of medics with protective gear had been sent to the border to improve surveillance.
Ebola has likely killed five people in Guinea after re-emerging in the country’s south, health authorities said Tuesday, as Liberia announced it was closing their shared border to guard against the spread of the virus.
“Since the re-emergence of the disease, we have recorded five deaths, three probable and two confirmed,” said Fode Tass Sylla, spokesman for Guinea’s Ebola response unit.
Hours later, Liberia’s information minister said its northern border with Guinea was closed “as a precautionary measure due to the new outbreak of Ebola,” with all the new cases recorded close to Liberian territory.