MONROVIA, Liberia— In a move following the World Health Organization’s call for extreme measures to be taken to combat a new outbreak of Ebola, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirlea says, “anyone caught hiding suspected Ebola patients will be prosecuted.”
As the Ebola outbreak reaches critical levels – already considered “the world’s worst outbreak of Ebola” according to the World Health Organization – governments are reeling to try to contain what has become a very serious threat. With more than 457 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, killed as a consequence of the outbreak since February, pressure is mounting for a response. However, the countries afflicted remain some of the world’s most destitute and, “with porous borders and weak health systems undermined by war and misrule,” are in dangerous straits when combatting “one of the most lethal and contagious diseases on the planet.”
The extremely dangerous virus, cited to have a 90% fatality rate, is extremely virulent but containable since the virus “kills victims faster than it spreads.” Containment, unfortunately, is impossible when patients start disappearing. Bernice Dahn, Liberia’s deputy health minister, explained to Reuters that, “people get sick and the community members hide them and bury them, against all the norms we have put in place,” risking spreading the disease further. Dahn notes that, “In Liberia, our biggest challenge is denial, fear and panic.”
These problems are not isolated to Liberia. New reports from Sierra Leone show that their weak health system has bred distrust and that rumors have spooked local populations away from medical attention. Populations in Sierra Leone, for example, “were wary of government reassurances, recalling similar statements during the civil war years when rebel raids, rather than disease, had traumatized the town.” An answer is slow coming. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has said that, “due to the scope and number of victims in this outbreak, it has reached its capacity to help,” and has challenged other international actors to realize the severity of this soon-to-be-insurmountable problem.
Pierre Formenty of the WHO, responding to the challenges posed by MSF and other international health leaders, maintains, “the situation is not out of hand.” Dr. Formenty notes the importance of continued “dialogue with the population, the affected families and the patients to make them understand the mode of transmission of the disease.” Restrictive measures in Formenty’s opinion, like the creation of a metaphorical “sanitary police,” would “only fuel the outbreak” and do nothing to create lasting behavioral change necessary “to stop the chain of transmission and the outbreak.”
Health experts call for immediate action, of which containing the sick is a key priority. Increasing the awareness of the importance of hand-washing and hygiene care are some other critical steps, but the use of potentially experimental medicine may soon become necessary. In the mean time, President Sirlea has given no indication of resigning hope: “Drastic action is indeed needed on all fronts to immediately stop this spread. With God on our side, Liberia will win the fight against Ebola!”
– Michael Portal
Sources: TIME, Reuters, Reuters, Rappler, allAfrica, United Nations, National Geographic
Photo: NBC News