Ebola outbreak which has affected West Africa killing nearly 200 people in Guinea has crossed borders and has already claimed one life in Sierra Leone. The World Health Organisation and Médecins sans Frontières have sent an expert team to the east of the country. The disease could spread rapidly, especially to the remote communities where health facilities are limited.
Sierra Leone recorded the first case this week with 16 cases recorded so far, 5 have already died. Ebola is a highly infectious virus which proves fatal in up to 90 per cent of its victims. It can be passed on through contact with the fluids of infected people, including sweat – meaning that just touching the body of an infected person can cause transmission. Healthcare workers have been forced to wear protective body suits.
The government has sent task forces to various regions to make the communities aware of the outbreak. The locals are treating the epidemic as Cholera. Various voluntary services are also doing their best to salvage the situation and control the disease from spreading. Koindu, a town in the eastern Kailahun district, had become the “epicentre” for the outbreak.
The government has prioritised 13 key messages, which it is attempting to disseminate to every Sierra Leonean. People have been told to attend the nearest health clinic immediately if they have symptoms of fever, diarrhoea or vomiting. There have also been warnings over hand-washing, and eating bush meat, especially from monkeys, chimpanzees or bats, or to eat fruit that might have been eaten by animals. Fruit bats are believed to be the natural host of the virus. The treatment is being offered free of charge by the government.
WHO, feels that the communities have to be made more aware of how to keep away from the virus. Early cases can be cured but there is no medicine to counter Ebola. So the religious leaders need to be approached who can make the communities understand the precautions needed against the Ebola virus. So far 186 deaths cases of Ebola had been detected in Guinea.
