Liberia: Ebola Patients Fled Health Facility

“All patients who ran away had Ebola,” Collins said.

However, according to Collins however, some patients chose to stay at the facility and some who had left returned on Monday.

Collins added that no one was injured in the incident as the assailants stole mattresses and equipment but health workers are searching for the other patients.

“It was an attack from people afraid of Ebola. Everybody is afraid,” Collins added.

The government had previously denied they were missing, saying all patients had been moved to another facility.

Liberia's Information Minister Lewis Brown however said the government was optimistic that more will return since they had voluntarily gone to the facility.

“Most of the people that went into this holding facility came there voluntarily. So our impression is that they still want to be (there), but they were forcibly removed by vandals and looters, not because they wanted to leave; so we are sure that they will return,” Brown said.

The government said the attack was a great setback to the country in its fight to contain the outbreak.

Even as Ebola continue to hit the country, some people according to a medical official Lindis Hurum, are ignorant and believe the virus outbreak is a hoax.

“Some people don't believe that it exists. Definitely, as the situation is getting worse and more people are getting sick, more people also start to believe it. But they don't necessarily understand or know how they should prevent it,” Lindis Hurum said.

Meanwhile, Cameroon has closed its land, sea and air borders with Nigeria over Ebola concerns in Nigeria.

This comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) has called for exit screenings on all travelers from affected countries.

WHO wants checks at airports, sea ports and major land crossings.

Several airlines have already stopped flying to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

At least 1,145 people have so far been killed by outbreak of the virus in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

By Morgan Mueke

Source: BBC News