Several Ebola Cases Reappear in Liberia and Guinea
By Abayomi Azikiwe
Global Research
December 01, 2015
Long term solutions to the crisis lies in building healthcare and educational infrastructures
Regional and international health officials are emphasizing that the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) crisis is not over with the appearance of three new cases in Liberia, one of the hardest hit West African states during 2014-2015, when over 11,000 people died from one of the most virulent forms of Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (VHF).
Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone were the most severely impacted states in the EVD outbreak which came to the broad knowledge of the international community during the early months of 2014. All three states have experienced internal conflict and unrest over the last three decades.
Nathan Gboetoe, who was 15-years-old, was taken by his father to the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in the Liberian capital of Monrovia on November 18. He was bleeding from his mouth but did not have a fever.
He was taken to the trauma ward and tested for EVD. Two days later the results returned as positive.
However, the delay in diagnosis and medical treatment led to Gboetoe’s death on November 20 shattering the notion that the country had finally eradicated the dreaded epidemic. Many are now asking: how could such a situation take place in light of the experiences of 2014-2015, when the largest outbreak of EVD had a profound impact on Liberia, a country with strong historic ties to the United States?
A recent article posted on the Foreign Policy website written by Claire MacDougall stated that “Gbotoe should have been fully checked by a triage at the entrance at the hospital where health workers screen for patients who may have Ebola and need to be isolated. The doctors and nurses who handled his case didn’t wear the correct equipment for treating possible Ebola cases that protects against the highly infectious virus.” (Nov. 26)
Nonetheless, others have disputed this claim of possible negligence with one being Dr. Francis Kateh, the chief medical officer and acting director of the Incidence Management System that monitors Ebola cases. Dr. Kateh emphatically denied there had been a violation of protocol.
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