Liberia Ebola Victims Dumped On Roads To Die

This young man lies dead in the streets of Liberia, left to rot in view of passers-by and local children.

He is just one of many Ebola victims to have been dragged out of their homes and dumped on the country's roads by terrified relatives in a desperate bid to avoid being quarantined.

The deadly virus, which can cause victims to suffer from severe bruising and bleeding from the eyes and mouth, has claimed the lives of nearly 900 people across West Africa so far. 

Last week, the Liberian government announced a raft of tough measures to contain the disease, including shutting schools, imposing quarantines on victim's homes and tracking their friends and relatives.

Today, Information Minister, Lewis Brown, said locals had started dragging their loved ones' bodies onto the streets out of fear that the new government regulations would risk their own health.

With less than half of those infected surviving the disease, many Africans regard Ebola isolation wards as death traps, he said.

'They are therefore removing the bodies from their homes and are putting them out in the street,' Mr Brown told Reuters. 

Shocking: Relatives of Ebola victims in Liberia have started dragging their loved ones' bodies out of their homes and dumping them on the streets in a bid to avoid being quarantined. Above, a man walks past the dead body

'They're exposing themselves to the risk of being contaminated. We're asking people to please leave the bodies in their homes and we'll pick them up.'

On Monday, the Liberian government announced via state radio that all corpses of Ebola victims must be cremated amid fears the incurable disease could overrun healthcare systems in one of the world's poorest regions.

The order came after a tense standoff erupted over the weekend when health workers tried to bury more than 20 Ebola victims on the outskirts of Monrovia, LIberia's ramshackle ocean-front capital.

Authorities said military police officers were called in to help restore order so

Burial: Volunteers lower a corpse into the ground in Kailiahun, Sierra Leone. The body has been prepared with safe burial practices to ensure it does not pose a health risk to others and stop the transmission of Ebola

Many of the victims had contracted the disease by touching the bodies of other victims as is tradition at funerals, they added.

WHAT IS THE EBOLA VIRUS?

Ebola is a severe, often fatal illness, with a death rate of up to 90 per cent. It affects humans as well as primates, including monkeys, gorillas and chimpanzees.

Once a person becomes infected, the virus can spread through contact with a sufferer's blood and other bodily fluids.

A person can also become infected if broken skin comes into contact with a victim's soiled clothing, bed linen or used needles.

Symptoms of Ebola include the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat.

These are usually followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function and internal and external bleeding.

If a person is in an area affected by the outbreak, or has been in contact with a person known or suspected to have Ebola, they should seek medical help immediately.

Mr Brown said authorities had begun cremating bodies on Sunday after local communities opposed burials in their neighbourhoods, and had carried out 12 cremations on Monday.

Meanwhile, in the border region of Lofa County, troops were deployed on Monday night to start isolating effected communities there, he said.

'We hope it will not require excessive force, but we have to do whatever we can to restrict the movement of people out of affected areas,' Mr Brown said.

The outbreak of Ebola, which emerged in March, spread to Nigeria in late July when Patrick Sawyer, a 40-year-old American of Liberian descent, flew from Liberia's capital to the megacity of Lagos

Authorities in Lagos now claim eight people who came in contact with the deceased U.S. citizen Patrick Sawyer are showing signs of the deadly disease.

In neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia, where the outbreak is spreading fastest, authorities have deployed troops to quarantine the border areas where 70 percent of cases have been detected.

Liberia's finance minister Amara Konneh said the country's growth forecast for the year was no longer looking realistic as a result of the outbreak.