New Ebola cases frustrate hopes of defeating the virus in Sierra Leone
By ALEXANDRA ZAVIS
LATimes.com
June 23, 2015
Two new Ebola cases have been identified in Sierra Leone’s capital in recent days, frustrating hopes that the deadly virus may have been defeated there.
The announcement by the country’s National Ebola Response Center followed a resurgence of cases in the northeast of the country, where President Ernest Bai Koroma this month ordered troops to enforce quarantines and a nighttime curfew in the districts of Kambia and Port Loko.
“Complacency is our biggest challenge,” Koroma said in announcing the measures. “Now more than ever is the time we must all remain vigilant in our households and communities.”
Sierra Leone was one of the West African countries hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak, accounting for nearly a third of the 11,000 people killed since last year, according to figures released by the World Health Organization.
Neighboring Liberia was declared Ebola-free in May, and the number of known cases in Sierra Leone dropped to just two that month. But the figure has increased again, with 14 cases recorded in Kambia and Port Loko in the week ending June 15, the WHO said.
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