Ebola in West Africa

This item appears on page 69 of the August 2014 issue.

Confirmed ebola deaths in West Africa rose to 467 in June, with more than 200 in Guinea alone.

Deaths from the ebola virus in neighboring Sierra Leone also rose after their first case was confirmed in late May. In an attempt to stop the spread of the virus, on June 11 Sierra Leone closed schools and movie theaters as well as its borders with Guinea. 

Ebola was also confirmed in the deaths of seven people in the Liberian capital of Monrovia.

At press time, there had been 759 confirmed cases of ebola in West Africa since March, the largest, most deadly outbreak of ebola ever.