The vice president of Sierra Leone in Africa says he's placed himself in voluntary quarantine after his bodyguard died from the Ebola virus.
Samuel Sam-Sumana, who says he's showing no signs of the virus, announced he would lead the country from quarantine in his home while President Ernest Bai Koroma is in Belgium for a European Union conference on Ebola.
"I am very well and showing no signs of illness," he said.
"I have decided to be put under quarantine because I do not want to take chances, and I want to lead by example," he explained.
Sam-Sumana's bodyguard John Koroma died on Friday, and the vice president called for anyone who was in contact with the dead man to also voluntarily place themselves in quarantine.
Later in the day President Koroma reinstated some restrictions as Sierra Leone experienced an increase in the number of Ebola cases after having seen a reduction late last year and into January of this year.
"The common denominator in the new cases is involvement with maritime activities," his office said in a statement.
Experts say the resurgence in Ebola cases in Sierra Leone was linked to the fishing industry around the capital of Freetown, caused by infected fishermen coming ashore and into coastal slums where efforts to contain the virus proved ineffective.
The virus broke through quarantine lines and moved into the countryside, causing an increase in infections and death, experts say.
Among the measures put in place were a limit on the movements of water transport and restrictions on ferries and the off-loading of cargo from commercial vehicles, the government announced, saying naval vessels would patrol the coastline while police on land would strengthen health checkpoints.
Of the countries experiencing the Ebola outbreak, Sierra Leone has been hit the hardest in terms of numbers of cases and the recent increase is worrying health experts though Guinea and Liberia have both seen a reduced incidence of infections.
Still, experts say, such problems are to be expected even if the overall trend is encouraging.
"I doubt it will stop just suddenly," says Dr. Pierre Rollin, an infectious disease expert with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "It's always bumpy, and the bigger the outbreak, the more chance you have a bumpy thing."
More than 9,600 have died in the current yearlong outbreak, with Liberia having the largest death toll of 4,047, data from the World Health Organization indicates.
