West African nations scramble to prevent spread of Ebola deaths

MONROVIA/CONAKRY Tue Mar 25, 2014 7:12pm EDT

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The spread of Ebola, one of the most lethal infectious diseases known, has spooked nations with weak health care systems. In Guinea's southeast, home to all the confirmed cases, residents are avoiding large gatherings and prices in some markets have spiked as transporters avoid the area.

Health authorities in Liberia said they had now recorded eight suspected cases of Ebola, mainly in people who crossed the border from Guinea. Five of these had died but tests were still being carried out to check if the cases were indeed Ebola.


"People are really frightened. They have seen people die in a matter of just two or three days. They are constantly worried who is going to be the next fatality," said Joseph Gbaka Sandounou, who manages operations for aid agency Plan International in Guekedou.

"People have never experienced anything like this before. Rumors are rife among communities who are trying to come up with their own explanations."



In Sierra Leone, authorities set up a task force after the death of a 14-year-old boy who had attended the funeral of a suspected Ebola victim. Authorities have yet to confirm if the boy died of the disease.

A Canadian who displayed Ebola-like symptoms after travelling to West Africa had tested negative, the WHO said.



Because people who fall sick with it tend to vomit, have diarrhea and suffer both internal and external bleeding, their bodies are often "covered in virus", explained Peter Piot, one of the co-discoverers of Ebola and now director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.



In the southeastern Guinea town of Macenta, prices - especially for products like chlorine - have risen due to shortages, resident Mamady Drame said.

People have also started avoiding shaking hands. "Can you imagine that people are hesitant to even greet each other? That is a shocking symbol in our culture," Drame said.

In the distant capital, where there have not yet been any confirmed cases, some bank staff handling cash wore gloves and clients were encouraged to wash their hands before entering.

Esther Sterk, a tropical diseases specialist at medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières, said that while dangerous, Ebola remains rare. Since its 1970s discovery, around 2,200 cases have been recorded. Of those, 1,500 were fatal.




In Ivory Coast, a neighbor of Guinea's to the east, authorities said there were no suspected cases but they advised residents to avoid eating bushmeat - a carrier of the disease - and regularly wash their hands.


(Additional reporting by Umaru Fofana in Freetown, Kate Kelland in London and Stephanie Ulmer-Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by David Lewis and Bate Felix; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Janet Lawrence)