--- title: Liberia Closes Border to Contain Ebola Outbreak description: Outbreak is already the largest on record canonical: https://time.com/3046012/liberia-border-ebola/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-28T16:32:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T09:22:31.308Z article:section: Health og:title: Liberia Closes Border to Contain Ebola Outbreak og:description: Outbreak is already the largest on record og:url: https://time.com/3046012/liberia-border-ebola/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e7d41fcdceb1ad0/69869d7fcd68481f70095d65/ebola_liberia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3348 og:image:height: 1883 og:image:alt: Ebola in Liberia og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Liberia Closes Border to Contain Ebola Outbreak twitter:description: Outbreak is already the largest on record twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e7d41fcdceb1ad0/69869d7fcd68481f70095d65/ebola_liberia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Liberia Closes Borders to Curb Ebola Outbreak > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Jul 28, 2014 4:32 PM UTC  Liberian health workers in protective gear on the way to bury a woman who died of the Ebola virus from the isolation unit in Foya, Lofa County, Liberia on July 2, 2014. Liberian health workers in protective gear on the way to bury a woman who died of the Ebola virus from the isolation unit in Foya, Lofa County, Liberia on July 2, 2014.Ahmed Jallanzo—EPA  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Jul 28, 2014 4:32 PM UTC The Liberian government closed off most of the country’s border crossings Sunday in an effort to curb an Ebola outbreak that has already killed over 670 people across Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone and become the largest outbreak of the virus on record. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said the airport will remain open, but that all travelers coming in and out will be tested for the virus, Reuters [reports](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/28/us-health-ebola-africa-idUSKBN0FX00V20140728). “All borders of Liberia will be closed with the exception of major entry points,” she said. “At these entry points, preventive and testing centers will be established, and stringent preventive measures to be announced will be scrupulously adhered to.” Ebola kills around 90% of those who contract it, although the current outbreak has only killed around 60%. Numerous medical personnel have succumbed to the most recent outbreak, including Dr. Samuel Brisbane, one of Liberia’s most high-profile doctors, who [died Saturday. ](http://time.com/3043753/ebola-kills-liberian-doctor-2-americans-infected/) Two Americans, Dr. Kent Brantly and missionary Nancy Writebol, have contracted the virus and are currently in stable condition, NBC [reports. ](http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/two-americans-stricken-deadly-ebola-virus-liberia-n166281)Both worked for North Carolina-based aid group Samaritan’s Purse, and [spokeswoman](http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/two-americans-stricken-deadly-ebola-virus-liberia-n166281) Melissa Strickland said that they are both “alert.” Brantly and Writebol had followed all CDC and WHO guidelines and worn full protective equipment when treating Ebola patients, including gloves, goggles, face protection, and full body coverings, Strickland said. Since Ebola is highly contagious, Liberia has also restricted public gatherings such as marches and demonstrations until the outbreak is brought under control. “No doubt, the Ebola virus is a national health problem,” President Sirleaf said in a statement. “And as we have also begun to see, it attacks our way of life, with serious economic and social consequences.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3046012/liberia-border-ebola/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3046012/liberia-border-ebola/"},"headline":"Liberia Closes Borders to Curb Ebola Outbreak","datePublished":"2014-07-28T16:32:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:22:31.308Z","description":"Outbreak is already the largest on record","url":"https://time.com/3046012/liberia-border-ebola/","keywords":["infectious diseases","Sierra Leone","health","Nigeria","ebola","Guinea","epidemic","Liberia"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e7d41fcdceb1ad0/69869d7fcd68481f70095d65/ebola_liberia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e7d41fcdceb1ad0/69869d7fcd68481f70095d65/ebola_liberia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ebola in Liberia","caption":"Ebola in Liberia","creditText":"Ahmed Jallanzo—EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-diseases/","name":"infectious diseases"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3046012/liberia-border-ebola/","name":"Liberia Closes Borders to Curb Ebola Outbreak"}}]}] ```