Liberia to prosecute Ebola patient for lying under oath

Monrovia, Oct 3 (IANS/EFE) Liberian authorities will take legal action against a citizen infected with the Ebola virus for lying under oath, a media report said Friday.

Thomas Eric Duncan is currently being treated in the US following his arrival on a flight from Liberia in September.

Liberian authorities asserted that Duncan will be prosecuted upon his return for lying under oath when he was asked at an airport checkpoint before heading to the US if he had been in contact with an Ebola patient.

Liberia's Deputy Information Minister Isaac W. Jackson accused Duncan of negligent conduct and endangering the lives of others despite being aware of what he was doing, Liberian Observer reported.

Binyah Kesselly, head of the Liberian Airports Authority, also said the patient will face justice when he returns.

Duncan deceived airport security checks set up by the Liberian government to prevent a further outbreak of the virus, which include questionnaires for travellers on flights taking off from or landing in Liberia before putting them to a fever detector.

Several of the man's neighbours said that he had been helping a woman diagnosed with Ebola who died later.

Since last March the disease has claimed the lives of 3,100 people, mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, according to the World Health Organisation figure.

--IANS/EFE

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