A deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus suspected of killing at least 63 people has spread from rural Guinea to the capital Conakry, authorities said on Thursday, after West African nations branded the virus a serious threat to regional security.
Guinean Health Minister Remy Lamah told Reuters that four cases of the haemorrhagic fever – one of the most lethal infectious diseases known to man – had been confirmed in the capital and the victims had been placed in quarantine.
The spread of Ebola to Conakry, a city of some 2 million people, marked an escalation in the outbreak in Guinea, which ranks as one of the poorest nations on earth despite rich deposits of bauxite and iron ore which attract international mining companies….