Getty Images photographer John Moore is in Liberia, the country hit hardest by the current Ebola outbreak.
More than 400 people are known to have died of Ebola in Liberia, though the figure may be far higher than that. Some of the hardest-hit areas of the country are under quarantine and many victims are dying uncounted in their own homes, aid workers say.
Umu Fambulle stands over her husband Ibrahim after he staggered and fell, knocking himself unconscious in an Ebola isolation centre in a closed primary school in MonroviaJohn Moore/Getty ImagesFayiah Sarkpu looks at the face of his wife, Tawah Fayiah, 54, who died overnight in their one-room home in Monrovia. A burial team was notified to collect the body. Poor sanitation and close living quarters have contributed to the spread of the Ebola virus, which is transmitted through bodily fluids, often between people caring for sick family membersJohn Moore/Getty ImagesA Liberian burial team carefully puts on protective clothing before retrieving the body of an Ebola victim from his home near MonroviaJohn Moore/Getty ImagesAn arrow in the dirt points the way for a Liberian burial team to find and retrieve the body of an Ebola victimJohn Moore/Getty ImagesA Liberian burial team wearing protective clothing retrieves the body of a 60-year-old Ebola victim in his home near MonroviaJohn Moore/Getty Images
Many of the sick are still being hidden at home by their relatives, who are too fearful of going to an Ebola treatment centre.
There is no cure or licensed treatment for Ebola and patients often die gruesome deaths with external bleeding from their mouths, eyes or ears.
Because it's spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of sick patients, Ebola takes an especially harsh toll on doctors and nurses, already in short supply in areas of Africa hit by the disease. Family members have contracted it by caring for their relatives or handling an infected body as part of burial practices.
A girl whose father died earlier in the morning lies sick in the West Point slumJohn Moore/Getty ImagesA man who was showing symptoms of possible Ebola listens as Unicef health workers talk about how to prevent the disease, in New Kru Town, LiberiaJohn Moore/Getty ImagesA girl sits alone in a cinema in the West Point slum in Monrovia. The owner said that few people have come since the Ebola outbreak beganJohn Moore/Getty ImagesThree-year-old Nino looks at a blackboard in an Ebola isolation centre set up in a school closed due to the epidemic in MonroviaJohn Moore/Getty ImagesA burial team from the Liberian health department removes the body of a woman suspected to have died of the Ebola virus from her home in MonroviaJohn Moore/Getty Images
Outbreaks spark fear and panic. Rumours are rife that Western aid workers are importing Ebola, stealing bodies or even deliberately infecting patients. Winning trust is made harder by a full suit of hood, goggles, mask and gown that hides their faces.
Health workers and clinics have come under attack from residents, who sometimes blame foreign doctors for the deaths. People with Ebola or other illnesses may fear going to a hospital, or may be shunned by friends and neighbours.
A crowd forces open the gates of an Ebola isolation centre in the West Point slumJohn Moore/Getty ImagesA family (with their backs to the camera) leaves an Ebola isolation centre after a mob forced open the gatesJohn Moore/Getty ImagesA resident of the West Point slum makes her opinion known after protesters drove out an Ebola burial teamJohn Moore/Getty ImagesA woman wearing an Obama T-shirt covers her mouth and nose after protesters drove out an Ebola burial team who had come to collect the bodies of four people who had died overnight in the West Point slumJohn Moore/Getty Images
The World Health Organisation has said the focus should be on practising good hygiene, and quickly identifying the sick and isolating them. That task is made harder, however, by the shortage of space in treatment facilities.
Beds in such centres are filling up faster than they can be provided, evidence that the outbreak in West Africa is far more severe than the numbers show, said Gregory Hartl, a spokesman for the UN health agency in Geneva.
Workers prepare the new Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Ebola treatment centre near Monrovia. The facility has 120 beds, making it the largest centre for Ebola treatment and isolation in history. MSF plans to expand it to 350 beds. The tents were provided by UnicefJohn Moore/Getty ImagesSupplies await arrivals to the new Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Ebola treatment centre near MonroviaJohn Moore/Getty ImagesDoctors Without Borders (MSF), staff member Brett Adamson hands out water to sick Liberians hoping to enter the new MSF Ebola treatment centre near MonroviaJohn Moore/Getty Images
