--- title: Ebola Crisis Intensifies as West Africa Struggles to Cope description: Quarantined communities risk becoming "plague villages," as few resources and chaotic conditions hamper efforts to contain outbreak. canonical: https://time.com/3134177/ebola-sierra-leone-liberia-guinea-lofa-county-monrovia/ author: Per Liljas article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-18T08:43:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:53.117Z article:section: Health og:title: The Ebola crisis is worsening og:description: A million people in quarantined regions face a lack of basic necessities og:url: https://time.com/3134177/ebola-sierra-leone-liberia-guinea-lofa-county-monrovia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3101258eb9a59db/69869fd855a8595dcfa8232d/453746570.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1651 og:image:height: 929 og:image:alt: 453746570 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Ebola crisis is worsening twitter:description: A million people in quarantined regions face a lack of basic necessities twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3101258eb9a59db/69869fd855a8595dcfa8232d/453746570.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ebola Crisis Intensifies as West Africa Struggles to Cope > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=6b37bc75-553b-4e32-b7a9-a1b013ee785f&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Ebola: The Deadly Virus Outbreak Explained [Watch (HLS stream): Ebola: The Deadly Virus Outbreak Explained](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oB7TO3G5.m3u8) (1:36)  _Published 2014-07-29. A look at the numbers behind the largest ebola outbreak on record, which has killed 670 people thus far._ by [Per Liljas](https://time.com/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas Aug 18, 2014 8:43 AM UTC  Hanah Siafa lies with her daughter Josephine, 10, while hoping to enter the new Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Ebola treatment center on August 17, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Hanah Siafa lies with her daughter Josephine, 10, while hoping to enter the new Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Ebola treatment center on August 17, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. John Moore—Getty by [Per Liljas](https://time.com/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas Aug 18, 2014 8:43 AM UTC A lack of resources and chaotic conditions in West Africa are severely hampering efforts to contain the deadly Ebola outbreak. More than 2,100 people have been infected — and 1,145 people died — in the five-month epidemic that has mainly hit Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. In order to limit the contagion, badly affected regions of Sierra Leone and Liberia have been quarantined, leaving over a million people facing a lack of food and other necessities. “If sufficient medication, food and water are not in place, the \[quarantined communities\] will force their way out to fetch food and this could lead to further spread of the virus,” Tarnue Karbbar, a worker for Plan International in Liberia’s hard-hit Lofa County, [told](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/17/us-health-ebola-liberia-insight-idUSKBN0GH0EY20140817) Reuters. Another concern is that communities in the quarantined zone will be shunned and left to fend for themselves, like medieval towns ravaged by bubonic plague. “Who is going to be the police officer who goes to these places?” said ActionAid U.K.’s head of humanitarian response, Mike Noyes, to Reuters. “There’s a risk that these places become plague villages.” Emotions are running high, fueled in part by discontent with public officials, mistrust in medical facilities, and lack of knowledge about the disease. A protest at the admission of Ebola patients from other parts of the country to a makeshift clinic in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, [turned ugly](http://time.com/3131025/ebola-looting-kenya-flights/) on Saturday, with crowds attacking the facilities, looting contaminated mattresses and sending patients running. The _Telegraph_ reports that protesters were [shouting ](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/liberia/11039693/Ebola-patients-flee-as-armed-men-raid-Liberia-clinic.html)“There’s no Ebola.” Relatives are also bringing back infected next-of-kin from health centers to die in their home villages, aggravating the risk of further spread of the virus, _AFP_ [reports](http://news.yahoo.com/survivors-enlisted-sierra-leones-ebola-battle-030954552.html). Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders [opened](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/18/world/africa/new-larger-ebola-center-opens-in-liberia.html) a new clinic, intended to be its largest-ever Ebola treatment center, close to Monrovia on Sunday. The center that was raided on Saturday is also expected to reopen on Monday. “I believe we will get all the \[missing\] patients back,” Samuel Tarplah, the nurse in charge of the center, told the New York _Times_. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/17/us-health-ebola-liberia-insight-idUSKBN0GH0EY20140817)\] ## Transcript The Ebola virus is highly contagious and one of the deadliest viruses in the world. A current outbreak is raging in the three West African states of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. The outbreak, which has killed over 670. People is the largest Ebola outbreak on record. It won't be considered over until no new confirmed cases appear for 42 days. There have been at least 1, 093 confirmed, probable, and suspected cases of Ebola in the current outbreak. Humans contract the virus from infected animals or other humans through contact with bodily fluids. Typically, the virus kills around 90 % of those who are infected. But thanks to early treatment, the number has dropped to 60 % in the current outbreak. Because it can take between 2 and 21 days for symptoms to show, health officials suggest keeping a 21 day fever watch. In addition to fever, other symptoms are headaches, joint pain, lack of appetite, difficulty breathing, and sore throat. In later stages, Ebola causes diarrhea, vomiting, and internal bleeding. Though it's been almost 40 years since the disease was first discovered in 1976, the grim reality is that there are currently no cures or effective treatments for the virus. 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