Guinea announced the closure of its borders with Sierra Leone and Liberia on Saturday in a bid to halt the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, which has killed nearly 1,000 people in West Africa since the start of the year.

The decision was taken primarily to avoid infected people crossing into the West African state, authorities said.

“We have provisionally closed the frontier between Guinea and Sierra Leone because of all the news that we have received from there recently,” Health Minister Rémy Lamah told a news conference, noting that Guinea had also closed its border with Liberia.

The decision to close the borders was taken in consultation with the country’s two neighbours, Guinea’s Minister for International Cooperation, Moustapha Koutoub Sano, told the news conference.

The majority of deaths from the Ebola outbreak have occurred in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, while at least two people have died in Nigeria.

Guinea has been the hardest hit, with at least 367 deaths since March. Another 18 people are being treated in isolation in the country with suspected Ebola.

Zambia, meanwhile, announced Saturday it would restrict entry of travellers from countries affected by the Ebola virus and would ban Zambians from travelling to those countries, in one of the strictest moves yet by a southern African country against the virus.

 “All delegates from any of the countries affected by Ebola virus disease are restricted from entering Zambia until further notice,” the Health Ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

 (AFP)