A possible impending famine is further complicating the fight against the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Some patients are apparently leaving West Africa's Ebola quarantine zones because they don't have enough basic food supplies.
The Independent reports that as many as 750,000 people could be at risk of famine and death from malnutrition. Ebola has left Sierra Leone's farms unattended and caused problems for food supply chains, as well as higher food prices in quarantined areas. Empty farms may lead to "an unprecedented modern famine" in Sierra Leone and Liberia, unless "urgent action" is taken, The Independent notes.
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