AKIPRESS.COM - Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma declared a state of emergency to help the country deal with the worst ever outbreak of the Ebola virus.
In a national address, Koroma said the government is quarantining areas where the disease is found, restricting public meetings, searching houses to identify infected people and updating procedures for passengers at the country's main airport.
The measures will be in place for 60 to 90 days.
Koroma said Sierra Leone is "in a great fight," and that Ebola is beyond what any one country or community can defeat.
The president announced he will go Friday to Guinea to meet with his Guinean and Liberian counterparts.
Those three countries have been at the center of the outbreak, which the World Health Organization said has killed nearly 700 people since the outbreak began in February.
Koroma canceled a trip next week to Washington, where President Barack Obama is hosting a summit of African leaders.