Ebola outbreak: Liberia suspends football

Liberia has suspended all football related-activity in an effort to control the spread of the world deadliest Ebola virus.

There was a risk of infection because football is a contact sport, the football association said.

The number of people killed by the virus in West Africa has now reached 672, according to new UN figures.

A major regional airliner, Asky, said it had halted flights to the Liberian and Sierra Leonean capitals because of growing concerns about the virus.

It is the second airline company to take such a decision, following the deadliest Ebola outbreak ever.

Ebola kills up to 90 per cent of those infected, but patients have a better chance of survival if they receive early treatment.

It spreads through contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids.

The outbreak was first reported in Guinea in February. It then spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Last week, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, reported its first case – that of Liberian government employee Patrick Sawyer who flew to the main city, Lagos, in an Asky flight.

All officials who had direct or indirect contact with Sawyer, 39, had been placed under “observatory surveillance” by health authorities, Liberia’s finance ministry said.

Sawyer was a senior official in the ministry, and died in Lagos five days after arriving in the city.

Nigerian authorities have so far identified 59 people who came into contact with Mr Sawyer and have tested 20, Lagos State Health Commissioner Jide Idris is quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying.