Missing suspected Ebola patients return to Liberian hospital

Liberian authorities said they have found the 17 suspected Ebola patients who fled a quarantine center in the capital during a looting at the weekend.

All the 17 people have turned themselves in to JFK hospital in the capital, Information Minister Lewis Brown said Tuesday, noting that they were not confirmed to have contracted Ebola and are now undergoing tests.

The suspected Ebola patients escaped on Saturday night when a group of slum residents ransacked the quarantine center where they were being screened for Ebola.

The incident raised fears that the deadly virus might spread into the densely populated nearby area.

The World Health Organization said Tuesday that the epidemic has killed over 1,200 people in West Africa since it broke out in December 2013.

Some 2,240 cases have been reported so far, according to the UN health agency.