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* Sierra Leoneans, Liberians defy warnings, flock tochurches
* Both nations have declared state of emergency
* Spanish priest to be treated with ZMapp experimental drug
* Pharmaceutical company says to begin testing vaccine soon (Adds details)
By Clair MacDougall and Umaru Fofana
MONROVIA/FREETOWN, Aug 10 (Reuters) - People in Sierra Leoneand Liberia filled churches on Sunday to seek deliverance froman outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus, defying official warningsto avoid public gatherings to contain an epidemic that haskilled nearly 1,000 people in West Africa.
With their creaking healthcare systems completely overrun,Sierra Leone and Liberia have both declared states of emergencyto tackle the highly contagious and incurable disease, which hasalso stricken neighbouring Guinea.
People still flocked to sing and pray at churches inLiberia's ramshackle ocean-front capital Monrovia, many of themcomparing Ebola to the brutal civil war that ravaged the countrybetween 1989 and 2003, killing nearly a quarter of a millionpeople.
One of the deadliest diseases known to man, Ebola kills upto 90 percent of those infected. Discovered nearly 40 years agodeep in the forests of central Africa, its symptoms includeinternal and external bleeding, diarrhoea and vomiting.
"Everyone is so afraid," said Martee Jones Seator at SaintPeter's Lutheran Church. "Ebola is not going to shake our faithin any way ... because we've been through difficult times."
With the disease now in four African countries - followingthe death in Nigeria last month of a U.S. citizen who arrivedfrom Liberia - the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Fridayclassified the epidemic as an international health emergency.
The WHO has said that the world's worst outbreak of Ebola --with 1,779 cases and 962 deaths -- will likely continue formonths as the region's healthcare systems struggle to cope. Ithas appealed urgently for funding and emergency medical staff.
A WHO medical ethics committee will discuss next week theuse of experimental drugs to tackle the outbreak after two U.S.aid workers showed improvement after being treated with ZMapp, adrug developed by California-based Mapp Biopharmaceutical.
Spain on Sunday authorised the use of the ZMapp on75-year-old Spanish priest Miguel Pajares - the first Europeaninfected - who was evacuated to Madrid last week aftercontracting the haemorrhagic fever while working in a hospitalin Monrovia. A Congolese nun who worked with him died there onSaturday.
British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline said on Sunday aclinical trial of a vaccine was due to start shortly. Three U.S.laboratories established to quickly make vaccines in the eventof a public health threat also said they were standing by tosupport any U.S. effort to tackle Ebola.
With no other treatment available, churches in Monroviafurnished plastic buckets containing chlorinated water forworshippers to disinfect their hands. Inside, pastors told theircongregations to follow instructions from health workers, someof whom have been attacked by locals terrified by the disease.
"We are in trouble here. We are in trouble," Reverend MarcusMacKay, dressed in a green gown, said before the altar. "But youknow what? There is no way this devil is going to do its work!"
STARTED IN FORESTS OF GUINEA
Though this outbreak was first identified in March in theremote forest region of southeastern Guinea, scientists havetraced the first recorded case as far back as early December, toa 2-year-old boy near the town of Gueckedou.
Many believe the virus was carried by fruit bats fromcentral Africa, where it is regarded as endemic. Yet it is notclear how it jumped into the human population in West Africa.
Quarantine measures imposed on infected communities have hittrade and food supplies in some of the world's poorestcountries.
In Sierra Leone, Bishop Abu Aiah Koroma of the evangelicalFlaming Bible Church in Freetown said price hikes weredestroying the nation's economy, branding Ebola "a devil".
Speaking amid chants of "Alleluia" and "Amen" from hispacked church, Koroma called for penitence "to avert this plaguefrom our country".
Concern over the spread of Ebola grew after it spread toNigeria - Africa's most populous country - in late July. Sevencases of Ebola have now been confirmed there, including twodeaths, and authorities have declared a national emergency.
In a bid to prevent Ebola reaching the United States, healthofficials in North Carolina said on Sunday they would requiremissionaries and others coming home after working with peopleinfected with Ebola to be placed in quarantine.
Burkina Faso became the latest African country on Sunday toannounce stringent airport health checks and border controls toprotect itself from infection.
In Senegal, which borders Guinea to the north, a man hasbeen isolated in the northern region of Matam while tests wereconducted for Ebola, the APS state news agency reported.
Tests on suspected cases in Hong Kong, Canada and SaudiArabia in recent days have all proved negative. (Reporting by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Stephen Powell andSandra Maler)
