The number of people killed by the outbreak of Ebola in the west African nation lf Guinea has reached 101 lives lost, plus another ten people dead in neighboring Liberia.  Part of the problem is that these are poor countries with porous borders over which people cross back and forth often at will.

“We fully expect to be engaged in this outbreak for the next two to three to four months before we are comfortable that we are through it,” said World Health Organization (WHO) Assistant Director-General Keija Fukuda.

The WHO says there were still three districts of Guinea that are considered to be Ebola ‘hotspots’ – the main one is the district of Guekedou in the country’s southeast, where the outbreak is believed to have started.

“In those three areas there are active transmission chains that still produce cases,” said the WHO’s Dr. Stephane Hugonnet.  “This is the epicenter of the outbreak and as long as this is not controlled there, there will be cases being exported from Guinee forestiere to the rest of the country and, likely as it happened in Liberia, to other countries.”

Mali has tightened its border controls on its frontier with Guinea.  Saudi Arabia has suspended visas for Muslim pilgrims from Guinea and Liberia.

The first known Ebola outbreak in Zaire – now the Democratic Republic of Congo – was also the deadliest, killing at least 280 people.  The Guinea outbreak is in a much more populated area thousands of kilometers away from the usual remote villages where Ebola usually pops up and is easier to contain.