Liberian healthcare workers call off Ebola strike

Monrovia: Healthcare unions in Liberia called off a strike on Wednesday over pay and working conditions for medical staff tackling an epidemic of the deadly Ebola virus.

The strike, which began on Monday, garnered poor support and most hospitals and clinics in the West African country had been operating normally. Liberia is the country hardest-hit by the outbreak of the viral haemorrhagic fever that has killed more than 4,400 people, mostly in three West African nations, including Sierra Leone and Guinea.

"We have called for the strike action to be called off on humanitarian grounds," said George Williams, secretary-general of the National Health Workers Association of Liberia. "Our doors are open for negotiations at a later date...but as of now we call off the action based on numerous appeals from the Liberian people both home and the diaspora."

The outbreak has also reached Nigeria, Senegal, Spain and the United States but outbreaks have been contained so far.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday the epidemic was continuing to spread in the three worst-hit nations and there could be between 5,000 and 10,000 new cases a week by early December.