borders to prevent the spread of the deadly Ebola Virus on to its
territory.
Ivory Coast has closed its land borders with Ebola-affected West
African neighbours; Guinea and Liberia, in an attempt to prevent the
world's deadliest outbreak of the virus from spreading onto its
territory, the government announced.
A number of African nations have defied advice from the World Health
Organization (WHO) and put in place restrictions on travel to and from
the countries where Ebola has appeared, which also include Sierra
Leone and Nigeria.
The Philippines on Saturday ordered 115 troops to return home from
peacekeeping operations in Liberia due to the outbreak there.
Ivory Coast, French-speaking West Africa's largest economy, had
previously imposed a ban on flights to and from Sierra Leone, Liberia
and Guinea.
"Faced with new outbreak sites and the reactivation of old sites...the
Ivorian Government decides to close its land borders with sister
republics Guinea and Liberia," said a statement read on state-owned
television late on Friday.
Liberia's Nimba County, which shares a border with Ivory Coast, has
seen the number of Ebola cases balloon in recent weeks. According to
the head of Ebola case management at Liberia's health ministry, Moses
Massaquoi, 65 cases including 25 confirmed patients have now been
reported there.
"The number of cases in Nimba has spiked recently and it is now an
area of concern," Massaquoi told Reuters.
Ebola has killed 1,427 people out of 2,615 known cases identified
since the West Africa outbreak was first identified in Guinea in
March, according to WHO figures released on Friday.
However, families hiding infected loved ones and the existence of
"shadow zones" where medics cannot go mean that the true scale of the
epidemic is unknown, the U.N. health agency said.
The WHO has repeatedly said it does not recommend travel or trade
restrictions for countries affected by Ebola, saying such measures
could heighten food and supply shortages.
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