Ebola: Sierra Leone village in lockdown after 31 new cases recorded
Flare-up of virus in community just outside town of Makeni with WHO linking cases to one man who escaped quarantine in Freetown
Lisa O’Carroll
TheGuardianUK
Friday 27 February 2015
Efforts to beat Ebola in Sierra Leone have been dealt a setback after 31 new cases were recorded in one village.
The community of 500 just outside the town of Makeni has now been put in lockdown by the army amid fears that more could be infected.
The World Health Organisation said cases had been linked to one man who escaped quarantine in Freetown to go to his village for treatment from a traditional faith healer.
The quarantine area is a fishing community, yards from the hotel where many workers from humanitarian agencies have stayed.
“On Sunday we had just five patients, it was really quiet,” said Bill Boyes, spokesman for the International Medical Corps (IMC) in Makeni.
“Then all of a sudden the ambulances started arriving and we had 16 people and it hasn’t stopped since. I think we have about 50 patients with 31 confirmed Ebola cases,” he said.
It is the busiest the 100-bed centre has been since it opened in December, with confirmed cases spilling out into an empty convalescent ward.
Most of the patients are part of the fisherman’s extended family.
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