Sierra Leone faces Ebola anew

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone - Sierra Leone's president imposed new restrictions Friday preventing people from entering or leaving two chiefdoms in the northern part of the country that are experiencing a resurgence of Ebola.

While neighboring Liberia has defeated Ebola, Sierra Leone and Guinea have continued to battle new cases, particularly along the border where those two countries meet.

Sierra Leone had 15 news cases in the week ending June 7, according to the World Health Organization, the highest weekly total since late March.

On Friday, President Ernest Bai Koroma said people would be barred from entering or leaving the affected parts of Kambia and Port Loko districts in northern Sierra Leone. A 21-day curfew also will be in effect from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., officials said, though the public health benefit was not immediately clear.

Eleven of the country's 14 districts have gone more than 42 days without an Ebola case - the benchmark for declaring an epidemic over.