Canarian Weekly
15-05-2015, 11:10
Ebola crisis ends in Liberia at last
LIBERIA, the most-affected country, has been declared free of the Ebola virus by The World Health Organisation (WHO) after having no new cases in 42 days.
The BBC was informed by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf that Liberia had “crossed the Rubicon” and would be celebrating a concerted effort to stem the disease.
More than 4,700 deaths from Ebola have been recorded in Liberia, and neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone continue to fight the outbreak. Tragically, Ebola has claimed over 11,000 lives across the region since last year.
The WHO regards a country Ebola-free after a 42-day period without a new case – twice the maximum incubation period.
The last confirmed death in Liberia was on 27th March, and on Saturday, the World Health Organisation said in a statement: “The outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Liberia is over.”
President Sirleaf told the BBC: “We will celebrate our communities which have taken responsibility and participated in fighting this unknown enemy and, finally, we’ve crossed the Rubicon. Liberia indeed is a happy nation.”
A man reads an Ebola awareness poster near Monrovia
Officials say Ebola was eventually conquered in Liberia through a collective effort. Care centres and hand-washing stations were set up to try to halt the disease, which spreads through contact with sick people.
Billboards went up with slogans such as “Ebola is real”, “Wash your hands and don’t touch” and “Don’t be the next victim”.
Monrovia resident Emmanuel Tokao wrote on a BBC Facebook page: “I’m firstly grateful to God, who I believe brought us back to normality.”
At the height of the outbreak, he said, “ambulances would either come for a dead body or sick person. It reminded me of the war days”.
Liberia lost around 250,000 lives in a civil war, which ended in 2005.
In Monrovia, the BBC’s Jonathan Paye-Layleh, says the President gave a sense of how traumatised the outbreak remains after the outbreak. In an address to the nation on Saturday, she said: “Even today, if you hear an ambulance siren, you shake a little bit.”
Although Liberia has now been declared Ebola-free, correspondents say the outbreak will have a long-term impact on the country’s fragile economy.
The current outbreak is the deadliest in history. Initially, it centred on Guinea’s remote south-eastern region of Nzerekore in early 2014, and later spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Despite the Liberian euphoria, the WHO warns against complacency. Its statement warns; “There is a high risk that infected people may cross into Liberia over the region’s exceptionally-porous borders.”
More... (http://www.canarianweekly.com/clean-bill-health/)
LIBERIA, the most-affected country, has been declared free of the Ebola virus by The World Health Organisation (WHO) after having no new cases in 42 days.
The BBC was informed by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf that Liberia had “crossed the Rubicon” and would be celebrating a concerted effort to stem the disease.
More than 4,700 deaths from Ebola have been recorded in Liberia, and neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone continue to fight the outbreak. Tragically, Ebola has claimed over 11,000 lives across the region since last year.
The WHO regards a country Ebola-free after a 42-day period without a new case – twice the maximum incubation period.
The last confirmed death in Liberia was on 27th March, and on Saturday, the World Health Organisation said in a statement: “The outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Liberia is over.”
President Sirleaf told the BBC: “We will celebrate our communities which have taken responsibility and participated in fighting this unknown enemy and, finally, we’ve crossed the Rubicon. Liberia indeed is a happy nation.”
A man reads an Ebola awareness poster near Monrovia
Officials say Ebola was eventually conquered in Liberia through a collective effort. Care centres and hand-washing stations were set up to try to halt the disease, which spreads through contact with sick people.
Billboards went up with slogans such as “Ebola is real”, “Wash your hands and don’t touch” and “Don’t be the next victim”.
Monrovia resident Emmanuel Tokao wrote on a BBC Facebook page: “I’m firstly grateful to God, who I believe brought us back to normality.”
At the height of the outbreak, he said, “ambulances would either come for a dead body or sick person. It reminded me of the war days”.
Liberia lost around 250,000 lives in a civil war, which ended in 2005.
In Monrovia, the BBC’s Jonathan Paye-Layleh, says the President gave a sense of how traumatised the outbreak remains after the outbreak. In an address to the nation on Saturday, she said: “Even today, if you hear an ambulance siren, you shake a little bit.”
Although Liberia has now been declared Ebola-free, correspondents say the outbreak will have a long-term impact on the country’s fragile economy.
The current outbreak is the deadliest in history. Initially, it centred on Guinea’s remote south-eastern region of Nzerekore in early 2014, and later spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Despite the Liberian euphoria, the WHO warns against complacency. Its statement warns; “There is a high risk that infected people may cross into Liberia over the region’s exceptionally-porous borders.”
More... (http://www.canarianweekly.com/clean-bill-health/)