News outlets discuss the attack on and looting of an Ebola clinic in Liberia, as well as other developments related to the outbreak in Liberia, including the quarantining of remote villages.

Agence France-Presse: Infected Ebola patients flee after attack on Liberia clinic
“Seventeen Ebola patients in Liberia who fled from a quarantine center after it was attacked by club-wielding youths were missing on Sunday, striking a fresh blow to efforts to contain the deadly virus. The attack on the Monrovia center late Saturday highlighted the challenge faced by health authorities battling the epidemic that has killed 1,145 people since it erupted in west Africa early this year, spreading panic among local populations…” (Dosso, 8/17).

Associated Press: Liberia: Ebola fears rise as clinic is looted
“…The violence in the West Point slum occurred late Saturday and was led by residents angry that patients were brought to the holding center from other parts of Monrovia, Tolbert Nyenswah, assistant health minister, said Sunday…” (Paye-Layleh, 8/17).

New York Times: Liberia Expanding Space for Ebola Patient Care
“Doctors Without Borders began accepting patients on Sunday at what is intended to be the organization’s largest-ever Ebola treatment center, near Liberia’s capital, Monrovia. The opening came a day after an improvised holding center at a former school in the densely packed West Point neighborhood of Monrovia was overrun by protesters who broke through the gates and carried away patients and supplies, including contaminated mattresses…” (Fink, 8/17).

Reuters: Crowd loots Ebola center in Liberian capital, worker says patients removed
“A crowd attacked a makeshift Ebola quarantine center in a rundown neighborhood of the Liberian capital, throwing stones and looting equipment and food, witnesses said, and a health worker said patients had been removed from the building…” (MacDougall, 8/17).

Reuters: Struggling Liberia creates ‘plague villages’ in Ebola epicenter
“To try to control the Ebola epidemic spreading through West Africa, Liberia has quarantined remote villages at the epicenter of the virus, evoking the ‘plague villages’ of medieval Europe that were shut off from the outside world. With few food and medical supplies getting in, many abandoned villagers face a stark choice: stay where they are and risk death or skip quarantine, spreading the infection further in a country ill-equipped to cope…” (Telmor/Farge, 8/17).

VOA News: Armed Men Raid Liberia Ebola Quarantine Center
“A group of young men armed with clubs, claiming that ‘there’s no Ebola’ in Liberia, raided a quarantine center for the deadly disease in Monrovia overnight, prompting about 20 patients infected with the deadly virus to flee, a witness said Sunday…” (8/17).