Liberia shuts border crossings following Ebola outbreak

The Liberian government has closed most of the West African nation's border crossings and introduced stringent health measures to curb the spread of the deadly Ebola virus that has killed at least 660 people across the region.

The new measures announced by the government on Sunday came as Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone struggle to contain the worst outbreak yet of the virus.

Speaking at a task force meeting, Liberia President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said the government was doing everything to fight the virus, including inspecting and testing all outgoing and incoming airline passengers.

"All borders of Liberia will be closed with the exception of major entry points. At these entry points, preventive and  testing centres will be established, and stringent preventive measures to be announced will be scrupulously adhered to," she said.

Ebola can kill up to 90 percent of those who catch it, although the fatality rate of the current outbreak is around 60  percent. The outbreak has placed a great strain on the health systems of some of Africa's poorest countries.

Highly contagious, especially in the late stages, its symptoms include vomiting and diarrhoea as well as internal and external bleeding.

Under the new measures, public gatherings such as marches, demonstrations and promotional advertisements also will be restricted.

"No doubt, the Ebola virus is a national health problem. And as we have also begun to see, it attacks our way of life, with serious economic and social consequences," Sirleaf said in a statement. 

Still, despite efforts to fight the disease, the virus continues to spread. Samuel Brisbane, a senior Liberian doctor, who was also treating infected patients has died after contracting the virus, authorities said on Sunday.

In Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos, a Liberian man who tested positive died in on Friday.

An American doctor working with Ebola patients in Liberia also tested positive for the deadly virus. Kent Brantly, 33, recognised his own symptoms and confined himself to an isolation ward.

The medic, who is married and has children, is being treated at a hospital in the capital Monrovia.

Another US citizen has also been infected with the virus, according to the Samaritan's Purse aid organisation, for which Brantly works.