(ANSA) - Monrovia, August 7 - Liberian president Ellen Sirleaf Johnson declared a state of emergency on Thursday as the country continues to face a rising death toll as a result of the spreading Ebola virus crisis.

"Extraordinary measures are needed for the very survival of the state," the president said in a speech At least 282 of the 932 deaths so far from the virus have come from Liberia, according to a statement on Wednesday from the World Health Organization.

