evacuated westerners, of which 3 survived. a u.n. employee was evacuated to france in early november 2014 after contracting ebola. on 12 november 2014, dr martin salia, a permanent resident of the united states, tested positive for ebola while working as a specialist surgeon at the connaught hospital in freetown. he is the sixth sierra leone doctor to have contracted ebola virus disease. initially he preferred to be treated at the hastings holding centre by sierra leonean medical personnel, however on 15 november 2014, he was evacuated to the nebraska medical center where his condition was reported as "still extremely critical" on 16 november. on 16 november the hospital released a statement that he "passed away as a result of the advanced symptoms of the disease". on 18 november a cuban doctor, felix baez, tested positive for ebola and was due to be sent to geneva for treatment. he later recovered. baez was one of 165 cuban doctors and nurses in sierra leone helping treat ebola patients. there were a further 53 cubans in liberia and 38 in guinea, making this the largest single country medical team mobilized during the outbreak. confounding factors freetown, sierra leone sierra leonean government intransigence on 5 october, the new york times reported that a shipping container full of protective gowns, gloves, stretchers, mattresses and other medical supplies had been allowed to sit unopened on the docks in freetown, sierra leone, since 9 august. the $140,000 worth of equipment included 100 bags and boxes of hospital linens, 100 cases of protective suits, 80 cases of face masks and other items, and were donated by individuals and institutions in the united states. the shipment was organised by mr chernoh alpha bah, a sierra leonean opposition politician, who comes from sierra leonean president ernest bai koroma's hometown, makeni. the new york times reported that political tensions may have contributed to the government delay in clearing the shipping container, to prevent the political opposition from trumpeting the donations. government officials stated that the shipping container could not be cleared through customs, as proper procedures had not been followed. the sierra leonean government refused to pay the shipping fee of $6,500. the new york times noted that the government had already received well over $40 million in cash from international donors to fight ebola. the new york times noted that in the 2 months that the shipping container remained on the docks in freetown, health workers in sierra leone endured severe shortages of protective supplies, with some nurses having to wear street clothes. david tam-baryoh, a radio journalist, was held for 11 days when he and a talk show guest, an opposition party spokesperson, criticised how president ernest bai koroma handled the ebola outbreak in a live broadcast on 1 november 2014. the weekly show monologue was taken off-air mid-show from the independently run citizen fm. he was arrested on 3 november and sent to the pademba road jail, after an executive order was signed by the president. on 14 november sierra leone's deputy information minister theo nicol gave a statement that baryoh had "been put on a ten thousand dollar bail by the criminal investigation department after a statement has been taken from him". amid concerns for his health, tam-baryoh apparently signed a confession to ensure his release from the prison, engineered by a committee made up of his lawyer, 2 journalists and a peace studies lecturer of the university of sierra leone. rightsway international, an independent human rights group, has condemned president koroma for allegedly dictating to the committee about obtaining the confession. a statement later released by the group read:rightsway is disappointed that tam baryoh's forced confession has been published widely by pro-government media outlets and social networks. the publication of forced confessions is often used to discredit dissident news and information providers. this is a media propaganda tool used by dictatorial regimes, to avoid being exposed, investigated and punished for the grave violations of human rights. local conspiracy theories "the ebola outbreak was sparked by a bewitched aircraft that crashed in a remote part of sierra leone, casting a spell over three west african countries – but a heavily alcoholic drink called bitter kola can cure the virus." "some members of the community thought it was a bad spirit, a devil or poisoning." at the beginning of the outbreak, many did not believe that the disease existed. "i thought it was a lie (invented) to collect money because at that moment i hadn't seen people affected in my community." community violence on 21 october, there was ebola related violence and rioting in the eastern town of koidu, with police imposing a curfew. local youth fired at police with shotguns after a former youth leader refused health authorities permission to take her relative for an ebola test. several buildings were attacked and youth gangs roamed the streets shouting "no more ebola!" a local leader reported seeing two bodies with gunshot wounds in the aftermath. police denied that anyone had been killed. doctors reported two dead. the local district medical officer said he had been forced to abandon the local hospital because of the rioting. effects travel restrictions health screening room in sierra leonean airport there are various restrictions and quarantines within sierra leone, and a state of emergency was declared on 31 july 2014. countries at higher risk for ebola in africa include benin, burkina faso, côte d'ivoire, guinea-bissau, mali, and senegal. in april 2014, the gambia banned air travel from several west african countries including sierra leone. by 11 june 2014, sierra leone closed its border with liberia and guinea. in july airlines of nigeria and togo cancelled flights to freetown. on 1 august 2014, ghana banned air travel from several ebola impacted countries including sierra leone. on 8 august 2014, zambia banned travelers from sierra leone and ebola-affected countries and also banned zambians from going to those places. on 10 august 2014, mauritania blocked entry of citizens of sierra leone. on 11 august 2014, ivory coast blocked travel from sierra leone, liberia, and guinea. the restriction was lifted on 26 september 2014. on 12 august 2014, botswana banned travel of all non-botswanans from sierra leone, guinea, liberia, and nigeria; they also added the d.r. congo later that month. on 18 august 2014, cameroon banned travelers from several countries including sierra leone. on 21 august 2014, south africa banned travelers from sierra leone, liberia, and guinea, but its own citizens were allowed to return from these places. on 22 august 2014, a kenyan airline put temporary restrictions sierra leone, saying the ebola outbreak was underestimated. on 22 august 2014, senegal blocked air travel to sierra leone, liberia, and guinea. on 22 august 2014, rwanda banned travelers who had been to sierra leone, guinea, and liberia in the previous 22 days. on 11 september 2014, namibia banned travelers from 'ebola affected countries'. in september 2014, bans on the sierra leone hosting federation football (soccer) games continued. in october 2014, trinidad and tobago banned travelers from the ebola-stricken west african countries, including sierra leone. in october 2014, jamaica, colombia, guyana and saint lucia banned travelers from sierra leone and other affected west african countries. in mid october 2014, saint vincent and the grenadines banned sierra leone nationals and those from some other west african nations. in late october 2014, panama banned anyone coming from, or had been in sierra leone, liberia, or guinea in the previous 21 days. on 18 october 2014, belize banned travelers from sierra leone, and also banned those that had been there or guinea or liberia in the previous 21 days. suriname banned travelers who had been to sierra leone, guinea, or liberia in the previous 21 days unless they have a health certificate. by 21 october 2014, the dominican republic banned foreigners who had been to sierra leone or other ebola-affected nations in the previous 30 days. on 11 november 2014, the gambia opened its borders again to travelers from sierra leone, liberia, nigeria and guinea. additional effects hand-washing station at lungi airport the outbreak was noted for increasing hand washing stations, and reducing the prevalence of physical greetings such as hand-shakes between members of society. in june 2014 all schools were closed because of the spread of ebola. in august 2014 the s.l. health minister was removed from that office. (see cabinet of sierra leone) in october 2014 the defense minister was placed in charge of the anti-ebola efforts. the president at this time was ernest bai koroma. on 13 october, the un's international fund for agricultural development stated up to 40% of farms had been abandoned in the worst ebola-hit areas of sierra leone. in october 2014 sierra leone launched a school by radio program, that will be transmitted on 41 of the local radio stations as well as on the only local tv station. (see cultural effects of the ebola crisis) september through october is the malaria season, which may complicate efforts to treat ebola. for example, one freetown doctor did not immediately quarantine herself because she thought she had malaria not ebola. the doctor was eventually diagnosed with ebola and died in september 2014. local works derived from the ebola crisis main article: cultural effects of the ebola crisis a sierra leone dj, amara bangura, shares knowledge about ebola in his weekly show which is transmitted on 35 stations in sierra leone. he takes selected questions from the text messages sent in and gets answers from health experts and government officials. "white ebola", a political song by mr. monrovia, ag da profit and daddy cool, centered on the general mistrust of foreigners. "ebola in town", a dance tune by a group of west african rappers, d-12, shadow and kuzzy of 2 kings warns people of the dangers of the ebola virus and explaining how to react, became popular in guinea and liberia during the first quarter of 2014. a dance was developed in which no body contact was required, a rare occurrence in african dance. some health care workers from the ifrc had concerns that the ebola in town song's warning "don't touch your friend" may worsen the stigma. in august 2014, george weah and ghanaian musician sidney produced a song to raise awareness about ebola. all proceeds from the track been donated to the liberian health ministry. there are a number of ebola-themed jokes circulating in west africa to spread awareness.