Sixty-six people have been killed in Liberia by the Ebola virus, which is spreading across West Africa, the Health Ministry said Thursday, dpa reported. Of the 66 deaths, 35 occurred in the northern Lofa country, where the first Ebola case was recorded on May 29, according to assistant minister of preventive services, Tolbert Nyensuah. In Margibi county, two deaths have been reported, while 29 people were killed by Ebola in Montserrado country, in which the capital, Monrovia, is located. Liberia currently has 104 suspected and 48 confirmed cases of Ebola, said Nyensuah. "Four isolation units have been established to isolate and quarantine Ebola patients for thorough observation," the assistant minister said. Meanwhile, in Ghana, health ministers and officials from 11 African countries were meeting to find ways to stop the Ebola outbreak, which has killed nearly 470 people across the region. Nearly 760 Ebola cases were confirmed in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone by the end of June, according to the World Health Organisation. Ebola, which has a fatality rate of 90 per cent, is one of the most contagious viral diseases known and is transmitted through blood, body fluids or close contact with infected people. Ebola's symptoms are painful and include severe vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, impaired kidney and liver function as well as internal and external bleeding. -- SPA 18:17 LOCAL TIME 15:17 GMT تغريد
