AKIPRESS.COM - A three-day curfew aimed at containing the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone has been declared a success by authorities.

The wide-ranging curfew ended at midnight on Sunday (GMT) and will not be extended, authorities said.

Sierra Leone has been one of the countries worst affected by the outbreaks, with more than 550 victims among the 2,600 deaths so far recorded, reports BBC.

Meanwhile, neighbouring Liberia announced a four-fold increase in the number of beds for Ebola patients.

Liberia is the country worst-hit by the epidemic, accounting for more than half the number of total deaths.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the worst ever, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says. The deadly virus is transmitted through sweat, blood and saliva, and there is no proven cure.

The curfew in Sierra Leone came into force on Friday morning, with most of the country's six million inhabitants confined to their homes.

Around 30,000 medical volunteers travelled to affected neighbourhoods to find and treat patients and distribute soap.