Ebola patient escapes Liberia quarantine, chased in market

2014-09-02 45

The man in the red shirt has Ebola and has just escaped quarantine in Monrovia.

He's searching for food and armed with a stick, trying to avoid medical staff who are in pursuit.

The man has just escaped Monrovia's Elwa hospital, which is overcrowded and struggling to provide Ebola patients with food and water.

Locals are both sympathetic and frustrated.

SOUNDBITE: Liberian woman saying:

"The patients are hungry, they are starving. No food, no water. ."

SOUNDBITE: Liberian man saying:

"We told the Liberian government from the beginning, we do not want Ebola camp here. Today makes it the fifth Ebola patient coming outside vomiting and toiletting."

After a tense stand-off, the man is surrounded by medical personnel and a doctor, and is eventually bundled into an ambulance.

Liberia has the highest Ebola infection rate in this latest outbreak, with around 700 deaths out of more than 1300 suspected and confirmed cases.