People in Liberia have taken to the streets to protest against bodies left for days in the streets and houses of the Ebola-hit country.

"No cars are allowed to pass on this road until the government can come and get the bodies that have been lying in the houses for four days now," a protester in the capital Monrovia said on Monday.

"Four people died in this community. Because the government says that we should not touch bodies, no one has gone to bury them. We have been calling the ministry of health hotline to no avail."

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said last week that the country will close all schools and most of its land borders in a bid to contain Ebola.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the worst Ebola outbreak in history has taken the lives of 887 people in West Africa as of August 1.

The WHO confirmed that the total number of reported cases in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria has surpassed 1,600.

Guinea is the hardest hit, with a death toll of 358. Sierra Leone, which declared a state of emergency last week, leads the way with the most reported cases at 646. Liberia has had 468 cases and 255 deaths.

Nigeria has become the most recent West African country to report cases of Ebola. Last week, a US citizen infected with the virus died in the Nigerian city of Lagos, shortly after flying in from Liberia.

There is currently no known cure for Ebola, a form of hemorrhagic fever whose symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting and bleeding.

The virus spreads through direct contact with infected blood, feces or sweat. It can also be spread through sexual contact or the unprotected handling of contaminated corpses.

Ebola was first discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976 in an outbreak that killed 280 people.