A nurse who cared for Ebola patients in Sierra Leone is fighting the US state of Maine over its right to quarantine her against her will.

In a test case for returning US health workers, Kaci Hickox has vowed to leave her home on Thursday if the state does not lift the restrictions.

President Barack Obama has been sharply critical of isolation being forced on people he says are "American heroes".

Almost 5,000 people have died from the Ebola virus, mostly in West Africa.

On Thursday, US ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power is expected to call for a stronger international response when she meets EU officials in Brussels.

She has been visiting the countries most affected - Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia - to show US support, as well as Ghana, where the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response is based.

(BBC)