Ebola outbreak leads to U.S. travel warning for 3 African nations

U.S. health officials yesterday warned Americans not to travel to the three West African countries -- Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia -- hit by an outbreak of Ebola that has killed more than 700 people this year.

In Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, security forces went house-to-house looking for patients and others exposed to the disease. Sierra Leone's soccer team was blocked from boarding a plane in Nairobi, Kenya, that was to take them to the Seychelles for a game tomorrow. Airport authorities in Kenya said Seychelles immigration told them to prevent the team from traveling.

Almost half of the 57 new deaths reported by the World Health Organization occurred in Liberia, where two Americans, Dr. Kent Brantly of Texas and Nancy Writebol, a North Carolina-based missionary, are also sick with Ebola.

At the White House, press secretary Josh Earnest said the United States is looking into options to bring them back to America. Officials at Atlanta's Emory University Hospital said they expected one of the Americans to be transferred there "within the next several days." The hospital declined to identify which aid worker, citing privacy laws.

There is currently no licensed drug or vaccine for Ebola, and patients can only be given supportive care to keep them hydrated.

The disease has continued to spread through bodily fluids as sick people remain out in the community and cared for by relatives without protective gear.

Rosa Crestani, Ebola emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, said it is "crucial" at this point to gain the trust of communities that have been afraid to let health workers in and to deploy more medical staff.