As the death toll from the West Africa Ebola Outbreak hit 1,350, one of the worst-hit countries is taking drastic measures to halt the spread of the deadly virus.  Police in the Liberian capital Monrovia fired on hundreds of protesters trying to break the quarantine on the impoverished West Point neighborhood.

“The soldiers are using live rounds,” said army spokesman Dessaline Allison.  “The soldiers applied the rules of engagement. They did not fire on peaceful citizens.  There will be medical reports if (an injury) was from bullet wounds.”

At least four people were injured, some badly.  If any of them had Ebola, it got out all over the place because Ebola is transmitted via bodily fluids, including blood.

All this happened because of the government’s quarantine on West Point, where earlier residents had stormed an Ebola treatment center, scattering patients and stealing supplies as well as used bedding and mattresses – some of it still soaked with the blood of patients. There are conflicting reports on whether the rioters didn’t believe in Ebola, or just didn’t want the capital’s Ebola caseload transferred to their neighborhood. 

Either way, officials feared they spread the killer virus in the city of about one million people.  So out came the razor wire and metal barricades, which provoked West Point residents.  They threw rocks at police, who responded with gunfire.

“This is messed up,” said national police Lieutenant Colonel Abraham Kromah, standing over a barefoot teen writhing on the ground after being shot in the leg.  “They injured one of my police officers.  That’s not cool.  It’s a group of criminals that did this.  Look at this child.  God in heaven help us.”