Ivory Coast closes borders with Ebola-hit neighbours

Abidjan - The Ivory Coast has closed its borders with Ebola-hit Guinea and Liberia in a bid to protect citizens against an epidemic that has killed 1 427 people across West Africa, the prime minister said on Saturday.

The closure was implemented on Friday "to protect all people, including foreigners, living on Ivorian territory," Prime Minister Daniel Kaban Duncan said in a statement.

The move comes in the wake of the first reported Ebola deaths in the southeast of Liberia, which borders the Ivory Coast.

Liberia has been the hardest hit by the worst-ever Ebola outbreak, with 624 deaths since March, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization.

Guinea has seen 406 people die while in Sierra Leone, 392 have succumbed to the haemorrhagic fever. Nigeria, meanwhile, has seen five people pass away.