17 Ebola patients have
been reported missing
after fleeing an attack on
an isolation ward in
Monrovia, Liberia, by
armed youths claiming the
epidemic does not exist,
tainting the spotlight on
the struggle to raise
awareness in the fight
against the deadly virus.
“They broke down the
door and looted the place.
The patients have all
gone,” Rebecca Wesseh,
who witnessed the attack
in a badly hit area on the
outskirts of the Liberian
capital, told AFP news
agency.
The attackers, mostly
young men armed with
clubs, shouted that
President Ellen Johnson-
Sirleaf “is broke” and
“there’s no Ebola”, she
said.
The head of Health
Workers Association of
Liberia, George Williams,
said the unit quarantined
29 patients who “had all
tested positive for Ebola”
and were receiving
preliminary treatment
before being taken to
hospital.
“Of the 29 patients, 17 fled
last night (after the
assault). Nine died four
days ago and three others
were yesterday taken by
force by their relatives
from the centre,” he said.
Liberian police chief Alfred
Karrow-Kamara said the
panic was caused by a
former nurse who
reportedly told people in
the nearby fish market
that Ebola was a pretence
for “carrying out
cannibalistic rituals”.
In Monrovia, residents had
opposed the creation of
the attacked quarantine
centre, set up by health
authorities in a part of the
Liberian capital seen as an
epicentre of the Ebola
outbreak.
“We told them not to
(build) their camp here.
They didn’t listen to us,”
said a young resident who
declined to give his name.
“We don’t believe in this
Ebola outbreak.”
Health workers’ plea that
relatives should stop
bathing the dead — who
are highly contagious —
has also increased
suspicions, as many
traditional communities
see ritual bathing as a way
of honouring the dead.
Gunmen attacked a facility
treating Ebola patients in
Monrovia, Liberia, late on
Saturday, and some
patients fled, Liberian
National Police spokesman
Sam Collins revealed
yesterday.
No one was injured in the
attack, he said.
All patients who ran away
had Ebola, according to
Collins, and some chose to
stay at the facility.
Since an Ebola epidemic
was declared in Guinea in
March, the disease has
spread to Sierra Leone,
Liberia and Nigeria. Ebola
can be contracted by
coming into contact with
infected organs and body
fluids such as blood, saliva,
urine and other secretions.
In the deadly disease’s
current outbreak in those
countries, 712 people have
died from Ebola and 1,310
people are Liberians
confirmed to be infected
with the virus, the World
Health Organization
reports.
Tolbert Nyenswah,
Liberia’s assistant minister
of health, told reporters
that, as of Friday, 154
people in the nation had
died from Ebola. There are
more cases in which
patients are suspected to
have the disease, but that
information has not been
confirmed, he said.
Last week, Liberia’s
government said that
sample doses of ZMapp, an
experimental drug used to
treat two American health
care workers in Atlanta,
Georgia, would be sent to
Liberia to treat doctors
who have contracted the
virus.
The country had requested
the drug, and the White
House and US Food and
Drug Administration
approved it.
Liberia has taken other
measures to try to contain
the virus.
In late July, it closed most
of its borders and national
campaigns have been
launched to educate the
public about how Ebola is
spread and what to do if
someone comes into
contact with an infected
person.

#sad...m feeling 4 liberia