Kenya to ban travelers from Ebola-hit nations

Kenyan officials said that the country was closing its borders to travelers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone due to the deadly Ebola outbreak.

The ban comes into effect on Wednesday. Kenya's health secretary said that Kenyans and medical workers flying in from those states would still be allowed in. The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that Kenya was at "high risk" from Ebola because it was a major transport hub. It also admitted that the scale of the outbreak appeared to be "vastly underestimated" and said that "extraordinary measures" were needed to contain it.

Kenyan Airways would stop flights to Liberia and Sierra Leone following the advice of the government. It also said that the passengers booked on the suspended flights would get a full refund. The company said its flights to Nigeria were not affected by the suspension.

Kenya's health ministry, had earlier said that four suspected cases of Ebola in the country had tested negative for the virus. The cases had involved a Liberian national and two Nigerians who had recently travelled to Kenya as well as a Zimbabwean.

On Friday, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said the outbreak would take at least six months to bring under control. MSF President Joanne Liu said the situation was "deteriorating faster, and moving faster, than we can respond to".

The epidemic began in Guinea in February and has since spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. On Friday, the death toll rose to 1,145 after the WHO reported 76 new deaths in the two days to 13 August. There have been 2,127 cases reported in total.

Ebola is transmitted by direct contact with the body fluids of a person who is infected. Initial flu-like symptoms can lead to external haemorrhaging from areas such as eyes and gums, and internal bleeding which can lead to organ failure. The WHO says that the risk of transmission of Ebola during air travel remains low.