West-African Leaders to Take Stronger Measures Against Ebola

West African leaders agreed on Friday to take stronger measures against the devastating outbreak of Ebola, which has so far killed 729 people in four West African countries.

The leaders said they will attempt to bring the Ebola outbreak under control and prevent it spreading outside the region, including steps to isolate rural communities affected by the disease, said Reuters.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and Doctors Without Borders, said on Friday the outbreak was out of control and more resources were urgently needed to deal with it.

WHO chief Margaret Chan told a meeting of the presidents of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone - the countries worst affected - that the epidemic was outpacing efforts to contain it and warned of catastrophic consequences in lost lives and economic disruption if the situation were allowed to deteriorate.

"The presidents recognize the serious nature of the Ebola outbreak in their countries," Chan said after the meeting. "They are determined to take extraordinary measures to stop Ebola in their countries."

In a communique after their talks, the leaders agreed to deploy security forces to isolate the frontier regions where 70 percent of the 1,323 cases have been detected.

Critics consider the collapse of public healths services followed IMF and World Bank indiced liberalization in the Ebola effected countries to be a key factor behind the outbreak.

There was alarm in the U.S. last week when an U.S. citizen died of Ebola in Nigeria after flying there from Liberia.