Kenya bars travellers from Ebola-hit nations

Kenya is closing its borders to travellers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the three countries worst hit by the Ebola outbreak, the government has announced.

Kenya Airways also announced that it would suspend its flights to Freetown and Monrovia when the government travel ban on passengers comes into effect on Wednesday.

Several European carriers have already suspended services to the Sierra Leonean and Liberian capitals, where states of emergency have been declared to try to slow the spread of the disease.

Kenyan Health Minister James Macharia said the measure was also aimed at travellers who have passed through the affected countries.

“In the interest of public health the government has decided to temporarily suspend entry into Kenya of passengers travelling from or through the three West African countries affected by Ebola, namely Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia,” he said.

The measure does not affect health workers fighting the epidemic, Macharia said, nor Kenyans returning home from the three countries.

However, he warned that both groups would be subject to “strict checks... and it may be necessary to put people in quarantine”.

The move comes amid an international appeal to help contain the deadly virus, which has already killed 1,145 people across West Africa this year.