Here is a letter that I just received from my friend Mosoka who is
working with the ebola response in Monrovia. This is very
important to read.:
Dear friends and partners, I bring you a thoughts on the current
ebola crisis in my country, Liberia.
Since I begun working with the ebola response in Liberia, I have
never been as sadden as I was today. I stood with my tracers and
watched the ambulance team transferring two of the Catholic
Sisters from their St, Joseph Catholic Hospital Compound. As the
two innocent young Nuns from the Democratic Republic of Congo
mounted the ambulance to be taken to the treatment unit at the
ELWA, I shared tears. I share tears because we could have
prevented them from contacting this deadly disease. They had
trusted us and our ability to manage the ebola response; we cause
all of them to be infected. After serving this country for over 40
years and saving thousands of lives, is this the way we could repay
them. As the ambulance made its way out of the deserted hospital
with the first badge of two nuns, I became too overwhelmed with
sorrow. The ambulance was returning for four of them including a
medical doctor. How could we have disappointed them....I
reflected painfully:
Three weeks ago, Brother Patrick, the business manager from
Cameroon got infected by a case that was brought to the hospital.
He was a contact until he started showing symptoms. The
laboratory had taken his specimen and his result was negative.
Based on this result,the other sisters and brothers decided to
nurse him back to health. Despite their treatment he progressively
began to shown signs and symptoms that were typical of ebola. He
decided that he would leave for his home country, but the airline
recognizing the signs and symptoms ask for a repeat of the test.
Behold! This came back positive.
The sisters, brothers and doctors who treated him were in a state
of shock and dismay. Brother Patrick was kept in one room of the
hospital for treatment. The confidence of the brothers and sister in
our ebola response system was seriously corroded. Brother Patrick
became weaker and weaker and others stop coming around as
they pondered over their own status. Then Brother Patrick died.
His body was among the 52 bodies that were buried in a mass
grave one week end ago. Then the sisters and brothers as well
three of the Liberian health care worker (including a laboratory
technician, a social worker and and a nurse) started getting sick. In
all seven of them became positive for ebola. One of them, a
Nigerian Medical doctor, was told he was negative. However, he
told us that every symptoms in his body indicated to him that he
too had contacted the disease. We then ordered for a new result.
We are awaiting this result, but he is getting sicker and sicker each
day.
Even as I write to you, we are arranging to take the remaining two
cases tonight. We were told that previous attempts to take them to
the treatment unit were met with resistance with resistance. But
their reluctance was due to the fact that we destroyed their
confidence in our ability to handle this Ebola crisis. They had
decided that they would rather die in their compound then follow us
to the treatment unit. If we had failed them with our laboratory
results, how could they trust us to provide the kind of intensive
care that is required in the treatment unit? As if to make matters
worse, the Liberian Social Worker who was confirmed with ebola
escaped today in the population. Her daughter came and took her
away, when she heard we were moving them to the treatment unit.
This is worrisome as she could be a source of new transmissions
in the community. Are we really winning this war against ebola?
I would say NO!!! Just a few days ago, our only internist was
suspected to have been a contact with Dr. Samuel Brisbane who
had died from ebola. Dr. Brisbane had contacted ebola from a
patient because he refused to use gloves and barrier nursing. Dr.
Borbor was asked to do his laboratory test. It came back negative
about one week ago. To our greatest dismay, he was taken to the
treatment unit last night when he started manifesting severe
symptoms of ebola. They are now repeating his test. Such
inconsistent test needs tos top because it only exposes more
people to the infection.
I have investigated the laboratory procedure and I noted several
sources for potential errors. There is a single team of laboratory
technicians that are working over ten hours a day and seven days a
week without any time to rest. This would lead to lapses and
increased risk for errors. One of the technicians told me sadly that
they worked these very long hours and no one provides them with
food. They begged for food and were given a 100 pound bag of rice
with no soup kind and no one to cook for them. Many of them had
not being paid for three months. How could we trust our lives in in
the hands of people that are overworked, staved and not given
their just compensation? Are we wining this war against Ebola?
I was trying to get the burial team to pick up a body that had being
lying out for two days. The dispatcher from the Red Cross, who is
a friend said to me, “ I beg you Dr. , the number of bodies we have
in Monrovia is more than the two vehicles and two teams we have
today.” She said that even as I was speaking to her, two of their
vehicles were already filled with bodies.
Even, where we have our clinic, a man had started vomiting and
toileting blood two days ago. I was called to intervene. I call the
ambulance team but no one responded. I called those of my
colleagues in authority at the Health Ministry, but they too were
powerless as the system and the logistics were not in place to
respond to such a call. The treatment unit was overflowing with
sick people. They just could not pick any one up in the community
because there no bed available in the unit. Then the man died. His
body stayed in the house for two days, while his poor wife and
children slept in the open. No one wants to come closer to them.
After two whole days of begging every authority I knew, they finally
removed the body today. The home was never spread. The poor
woman and her children are again sleeping outside today. I have
tried to call the guy on spraying but his phone is off. But, I will
press on and will call again tomorrow.
This evening the Catholic Bishop asked that Sister Shanta (who
died around 2 am this morning, the second victim from the
Catholic Hospital) be buried in the compound. The authorities
honored his wish and her remains were lay to rest on Liberian soil
thousands of miles from her native DRC. We can point to her grave
and memorialize her in the future. But, Brother Patrick and the over
fifty bodies that were buried a few weeks ago will never have such
honor. The remains of the over 60 bodies that have so far being
cremated in the Indian crematorium on the Marshall Highway will
never have these memories.
I pray that their memories and the memories of those who will
survive this deadly ebola will remain in our hearts. As I walked out
of the deserted St. Joseph Catholic Hospital, I remembered that it
was here my father was treated during his last days on earth in
2011 and it was here my sister Marie receive her treatment before
we transferred her to Ghana. But today, the hospital is a ghost
town.
Maybe, as some of us fight each day to make some kind of
difference, it will at least amend for all of our mistakes and failures
in the Ebola Response. May God save our country and those
countries affected!!!!

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10152560240817279&id=697812278&p=10&refid=52

very touching..after years of civil war in Liberia.. They now are suffering from this scourge called Ebola.

Sometimes,I feel my country Nigeria is blessed but we are cursed by selfish political leaders.

This is very dire. Is it only in times of war that Ecowas, FBI, CIA the west <,Russia and China show their might ?
Why cant these country mobilized to nip this ravaging disease .

International politicking has taken precedence over value for humanity. I'm freaking disappointed in this Ban ki moon., leaving only WHO who by the way is just taking samples to their safe haven and making postulations. Help this people dammit !!!

Liberia is in desperate need of help. The disease is gradually wiping that country off. May God help mother Africa!

wey those jobless rights activists wey dey demonstrate over man made problems of Israel n Hamas?

Work don land. Dis na nature made problem

make una quick start 4 US n Europe

W/Africa must b saved

hushmail: wey those jobless rights activists wey dey demonstrate over man made problems of Israel n Hamas?

Work don land. Dis na nature made problem

make una quick start 4 US n Europe

W/Africa must b saved

All does shouting over Hamas would made good use of their human sympathy in Liberia were the population is gradually being decimated.