Liberia shuts schools in battle against Ebola

Liberia announced Wednesday it was shutting all schools and placing "non-essential" government workers on 30 days' leave in a bid to halt the spread of the deadly Ebola epidemic raging in west Africa.

The impoverished country, along with neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone, is struggling to contain an epidemic that has infected 1,200 people and left 672 dead across the region since the start of the year.

"All schools are ordered closed following further directives from the ministry of education," President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said in a televised address to the nation.

"All markets at border areas are hereby ordered closed until further notice."

She said Liberia, where the death toll stands at 129 from 249 cases, would be contributing $5.0 million (3.7 million euros) as an "initial contribution" to the regional fight against Ebola.

"All non-essential staff -- to be determined by the heads of ministries and agencies -- are to be placed on 30 days' compulsory leave," Sirleaf added.

"Friday August 1 is declared a non-working day and is to be used for the disinfection of all public facilities."

Fears that the outbreak could spread to other continents have been growing with European and Asian countries on alert and leading medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warning the epidemic is out of control.

MSF said the crisis would only get worse and warned there was no overarching strategy to handle the world's worst-ever outbreak of the disease.

Liberia's new measures follow Sirleaf's announcement on Monday of the closure of most of the country's land borders as Ebola cases were reported in Freetown and Lagos, Nigeria's largest city.

Monrovia's international airport, a provincial airport and three major crossings were exempted from the closures.

Liberia has seen 129 deaths from Ebola, which causes severe fever and muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in the worst cases, organ failure and unstoppable bleeding.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.