Senegal closes border with Guinea over Ebola fears

Senegal has closed its land border with neighboring Guinea to prevent the spread of the Ebola outbreak, which has killed at least 70 people.

Senegal's Interior Ministry announced the border closure Saturday. It also said officials in the southern region of Kolda closed a weekly market which draws thousands of people from the neighboring West African countries of Guinea, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.

Guinea confirmed last week that several victims of hemorrhagic fever in the country's southern region had tested positive for Ebola. Eight cases have been confirmed in Guinea's capital, Conakry, and in neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone authorities are also investigating suspected cases.

The hemorrhagic fever's initial symptoms can mimic malaria, but as the disease progresses it can lead to grisly deaths as patients bleed both internally and externally.

© 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.