Liberian President Sacks Ministers Who Defied Order To Remain At Home And Help Fight Ebola

Liberia’s president has fired all Cabinet ministers and other top officials who defied her order to return to the country as it struggles with an unprecedented Ebola outbreak.

A statement from Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s office late Monday did not say how many officials or which ones had been fired. The order to return and remain in Liberia came a few weeks ago as part of a state of emergency.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has killed more than 1,400 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria. Liberia has been hardest hit and has the most severe measures, including sealing off an entire neighborhood of the capital.

The World Health Organization says 240 health care workers have been infected with Ebola, half of whom died.