One killed by Ebola after escaping from hospital in Sierra Leone

One person died of Ebola virus in a hospital in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown this week, an official confirmed on Wednesday.

The patient Saidu Conteh died about a week after escaping from a hospital in the city's central area with the help of his family, said Pallo Conte, the CEO of the National Ebola Response Center, at a weekly press conference.

Conteh led to the quarantine of 52 people because of his "carelessness and irresponsible behavior", the official said.

He warned that people running away from isolation rooms or looking after sick people in hiding "will not survive the Ebola virus."

He said the death and another suspected Ebola case in Moyamba, some 200 kilometers from the capital, halted the gains made by the country as it had recorded eight days without a new Ebola case.

The Ebola response center has put on alert about five people who are family members and escaped from isolation rooms in the Kambia district that borders Guinea, he said, adding that six Ebola patients are receiving treatment across the country.

The Ebola virus which broke out in May last year has claimed over 3000 lives in Sierra Leone. Endi