Thousands in Sierra Leone break Ebola quarantine to find food

People carry a bag of rice at a World Food Programme distribution point in Freetown October 18, 2014. The U.N.'s World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organisation say border and market closures, quarantines and movement restrictions, and widespread fear of Ebola have led to food scarcity, panic buying and price increases, especially in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The WFP is trying to provide food to around 1 million people in the three worst-affected countries. REUTERS/Josephus Olu-Mamma

A group of aid agencies says that thousands of people in Sierra Leone are being forced to violate Ebola quarantines to find food because deliveries are not reaching them.

In order to prevent the spread of Ebola, large swaths of the West African country have been sealed off and within those areas many people have been ordered to stay in their homes. The government, with help from the U.N.'s World Food Program, is tasked with delivering food and other services to those people.

But Jeanne Kamara of Christian Aid in Sierra Leone said Tuesday that there are many "nooks and crannies" in the country that are being missed. Her agency and others that belong to the Disasters Emergency Committee umbrella organization are trying to fill the gaps.