Ebola Claims 460 Deaths in Liberia As Of August 16th

New figures released on Friday showed that Liberia now has recorded more deaths — 413 — than any of the other affected countries. On Saturday, a newly expanded, 34-bed Ebola treatment center was opened at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Medical Center in Monrovia, health officials said. However, the figure released by health authorities is underestimated; unconfirmed report put the figures to over 600 in Liberia.

Health experts have warned that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa may last another six months. At least 1,145 people have died across Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria, and that may "vastly underestimate the magnitude of the outbreak," the World Health Organization says.

The community’s problems have been crippled by the lack of proper sanitation, public toilets. A UN report estimates that there are four public toilets in the area and while some sections of the area have paid public toilets, many cannot afford, forcing resident to use the surrounding areas to ease themselves.

Outside West Point, several communities around Monrovia are also going through tough patches. Sick patients have been pleading for more than a week to get medical teams assistance but many of those pleads are falling on deaf ears as bodies are taking longer to be collected.

Late Saturday night, the 17 Ebola suspects fled the isolation center through the assistance of several angry residents of the West Point Community. The angry West Pointers overwhelmed the center chanting slogans such as “NO Ebola, Ellen broke, she want more money; she lying about Ebola” and helped the 17 patients to leave the center.

There is currently no vaccine against the highly-contagious disease and other forms of treatment are only designed to relieve symptoms such as fever, vomiting and haemorrhaging. Up to 90 percent of victims die - a fatality rate so high that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) classifies the illness as a category A "bioterrorism agent" - although the current outbreak fatality rate is near 60 percent.

Health care workers in Liberia have administered three doses of the rare, experimental drug ZMapp to three doctors suffering from Ebola, two medical workers have disclosed. Health experts have warned that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa may last another six months. At least 1,145 people have died across Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria, and that may "vastly underestimate the magnitude of the outbreak," the World Health Organization says.

About 17 suspected Ebola patients on Saturday fled Ebola Isolated Center in West Point, thus sparking several concern in Monrovia among state authorities. The Isolated Center was hosting a total of 29 persons that the center but nine had died over the last few days after the Ebola Virus has intensified in the country.

West Point, located on a peninsula which juts out into the Atlantic between the Mesurado and St. Paul Rivers is home to approximately 75,000 people and is easily one of Monrovia's most densely populated neighborhoods hampered by overpopulation and a host of diseases.