Ebola Kills Another 84 In West Africa

Health workers with buckets, as part of their Ebola virus prevention protective gear, at an Ebola treatment center in the city of Monrovia, Liberia.

The World Health Organization says another 84 people have died in West Africa as a result of the Ebola virus, bringing the death toll from the epidemic to 1,229.

The U.N. health agency announced Tuesday the number of confirmed and likely infections has risen to 2,240, including 113 new cases reported late last week.

The majority of the new deaths were in Liberia, where authorities are struggling to contain the virus.  On Sunday, at least 17 suspected Ebola patients fled an isolation center in Monrovia when armed men attacked and looted the facility.

Reuters news agency quotes a government spokesman as saying all 17 have been located and transferred to another clinic.

Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders says it has opened a new 120-bed Ebola management facility in Monrovia.  Much of the city's established health care system has shut down due to fears of Ebola among doctors and staff.

The disease is transmitted through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person.

The WHO noted that governments have set up quarantine zones in parts of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

 The agency said it is working with the U.N. World Food Program to distribute food to about one million people living in those areas.

The U.N. health organization is also urging authorities in the affected countries to screen all passengers leaving airports, seaports and major border crossings for signs of the virus.