--- title: Ebola Quarantine in Sierra Leone Enforced by New Troops description: Sierra Leone has dispatched a battalion of 750 soldiers to the epicenters of the nation's Ebola outbreak to enforce new quarantine measures canonical: https://time.com/3086145/sierra-leone-troops-ebola/ author: Dan Kedmey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-06T14:39:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:56.520Z article:section: Health og:title: Ebola Quarantine in Sierra Leone Enforced by New Troops og:description: Sierra Leone has dispatched a battalion of 750 soldiers to the epicenters of the nation's Ebola outbreak to enforce new quarantine measures og:url: https://time.com/3086145/sierra-leone-troops-ebola/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt919a1bef906996d7/69869e91adae4466fb5446cf/liberia-ebola-soldiers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Liberia West Africa Ebola og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ebola Quarantine in Sierra Leone Enforced by New Troops twitter:description: Sierra Leone has dispatched a battalion of 750 soldiers to the epicenters of the nation's Ebola outbreak to enforce new quarantine measures twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt919a1bef906996d7/69869e91adae4466fb5446cf/liberia-ebola-soldiers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Sierra Leone Dispatches Troops to Enforce Ebola Quarantine > 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. ## Video: How Suits Protect Doctors From Ebola [Watch (HLS stream): How Suits Protect Doctors From Ebola](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/O5USUvDI.m3u8) (2:12)  _Published 2014-08-04. While people rely on doctors to stop the Ebola outbreaks in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, doctors rely on suits to protect them._  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Aug 6, 2014 2:39 PM UTC  Liberian soldiers walk through streets as others drive to prevent panic as fears of the deadly Ebola virus spread. Troops are patrolling in Liberia, while soldiers in Sierra Leone have been sent to enforce quarantine, Monrovia, Liberia, Aug. 1, 2014. Liberian soldiers walk through streets as others drive to prevent panic as fears of the deadly Ebola virus spread. Troops are patrolling in Liberia, while soldiers in Sierra Leone have been sent to enforce quarantine, Monrovia, Liberia, Aug. 1, 2014. Abbas Dulleh—AP  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Aug 6, 2014 2:39 PM UTC **Updated 6:09 p.m. ET Aug. 6** Sierra Leone has [dispatched](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/world/africa/sierra-leone-deploys-troops-in-ebola-crisis.html?%5Fr=0) 750 soldiers to the epicenters of the nation’s Ebola outbreak to enforce sweeping new quarantine measures as the virus’ global death toll rose to at least 932 people as of Wednesday. Liberia’s president ordered a 30-day state of emergency because of the Ebola outbreak late Wednesday, according to a [radio broadcast](https://twitter.com/libobserver/status/497132920176644097). Troops and police have been stationed outside of local clinics and family homes, the New York _Times_ [reports](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/world/africa/sierra-leone-deploys-troops-in-ebola-crisis.html?%5Fr=0), amid reports of concerned family members trespassing into quarantined areas and coming into contact with sick patients and infected bodies. In Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, Reuters [reports](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/05/us-health-ebola-africa-idUSKBN0G51VF20140805) that relatives of Ebola victims have anonymously dumped infected bodies in the streets rather than face quarantines. Forces have also been deployed in Liberia to maintain order, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, health experts and epidemiologists [convened](http://www.boston.com/health/2014/08/06/nigerian-health-minister-says-nurse-died-ebola/z0lWlGYOVRS8ob5ZxrirvK/story.html) Wednesday at the World Health Organization to begin a two-day discussion about containment measures and to ensure healthcare systems in West Africa are not overwhelmed by a rising tide of cases. Infections have continued to spread from remote precincts into more heavily populated areas, despite sweeping quarantine measures [announced](http://www.statehouse.gov.sl/index.php/component/content/article/34-news-articles/925-address-to-the-nation-on-the-ebola-outbreak-by-his-excellency-the-president-dr-ernest-bai-koroma-july-30-2014) last week by Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea — the three most heavily-hit countries – including school closures and heavy surveillance of at-risk populations. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, reported a second Ebola death and five additional cases in Lagos on Wednesday, while Saudi Arabia announced that it was testing a man who reportedly died of Ebola-like symptoms after returning from a business trip to Sierra Leone. However, the cause of the man’s death remains unconfirmed, the BBC [reports](http://www.bbc.com/news/health-28673380). \[[_NYT_](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/world/africa/sierra-leone-deploys-troops-in-ebola-crisis.html?%5Fr=0)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3086145/sierra-leone-troops-ebola/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3086145/sierra-leone-troops-ebola/"},"headline":"Sierra Leone Dispatches Troops to Enforce Ebola Quarantine","datePublished":"2014-08-06T14:39:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:00:56.520Z","description":"Troops and police have sealed off clinics and homes in hardest-hit localities","url":"https://time.com/3086145/sierra-leone-troops-ebola/","keywords":["Infectious Disease","Sierra Leone","Nigeria","ebola","Guinea","Liberia"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt919a1bef906996d7/69869e91adae4466fb5446cf/liberia-ebola-soldiers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt919a1bef906996d7/69869e91adae4466fb5446cf/liberia-ebola-soldiers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Liberia West Africa Ebola","caption":"Liberia West Africa Ebola","creditText":"Abbas Dulleh—AP","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-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3086145/sierra-leone-troops-ebola/","name":"Sierra Leone Dispatches Troops to Enforce Ebola Quarantine"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How Suits Protect Doctors From Ebola","description":"While people rely on doctors to stop the Ebola outbreaks in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, doctors rely on suits to protect them.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/O5USUvDI/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-08-04T22:03:18.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/O5USUvDI.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3086145/sierra-leone-troops-ebola/","duration":"PT2M12S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3086145/sierra-leone-troops-ebola/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```