Liberia and Sierra Leone have enacted containment measures to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola virus sweeping through their countries.

The nations recently declared a state of emergency to give authorities greater means of containing the infection.

In Liberia, citizens from rural areas were blocked from travelling to the capital by soldiers, and similar measures were initiated in Sierra Leone in an initiative called "Project Octopus".

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, expressing the need for "extraordinary measures for the very survival of our state and for the protection of the lives of our people".

"Ignorance, poverty, as well as entrenched religious and cultural practices continue to exacerbate the spread of the disease especially in the counties," she added.

A state of emergency was declared in Sierra Leone last week.

"All epicentres of the disease will be quarantined," President Ernest Bai Koroma said.

Security forces have been called in to help police traffic in and out of the epicentres, and are protecting health workers and charity organisations working in the country. There have been reports of health care workers being attacked, and infected patients being forcibly removed from health centers by family members.

Some citizens who tested positive for Ebola have fled hospitals and are in hiding, and President Koroma said that authorities will search for them house to house.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Ebola virus disease, or Ebola hemorrhagic fever, typically causes fever, diarrhea, vomiting, headaches, joint pain, and other symptoms.

The disease is transmitted by coming into contact with the bodily fluid of an infected person, or touching objects such as needles that have come into contact with infected bodily fluid.

The outbreak began in southern Guinea in February, and quickly spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. At least 932 people have been killed by the virus, and there is no cure. The mortality rate of the current outbreak is 60 per cent.