Sierra Leone orphanage quarantined

An orphanage run by a UK charity in Sierra Leone has been quarantined after one of its local staff was diagnosed with the deadly Ebola virus.

Augustine Baker is said to be in a stable condition at a local treatment centre after becoming ill last week. Continue..

St George Foundation orphanage co-founder Philip Dean told the BBC that 33 children and seven staff were now in isolation.

Ebola has killed more than 9,500 people in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. The governments of the three countries have pledged to achieve zero Ebola infections within the next two months.

'Tireless worker'

"Augustine collapsed at a staff meeting and several of his colleagues helped get him to hospital," UK-based Mr Dean told the BBC.

"It's possible that they have been exposed. It's a very worrying time," he said.

the quarantine at the St George Foundation orphanage is self-imposed, and is expected to last for three weeks.

The orphanage was set up in 2004 on the outskirts of Freetown, and, until the Ebola outbreak, was mainly concerned with rescuing street children.

In the last year it has helped care for some 200 children orphaned by Ebola.

"Since the start of the Ebola outbreak Augustine has worked tirelessly to help children orphaned by the disease. He knew that he was at risk, but did the job, because it needed to be done," Mr Dean said.