Liberia

Ebola: Liberia deaths ‘far higher than reported’ as officials downplay epidemic

The true death toll from the Ebola epidemic is being masked by chaotic data collection and people’s reluctance to admit that their loved ones had the virus, according to one of west Africa’s most celebrated film-makers. Sorious Samura, who has just returned from making a documentary on the crisis in Liberia, said it is very clear on the ground that the true number of dead is far higher than the official figures being reported by the World Health Organisation. Liberia accounts for more than half of all the official Ebola deaths, with a total of 2,458.

Ship from Liberia with Sick Passengers Docks in Louisiana…But Don’t Worry

When a ship from an Ebola-plagued nation docks on American shores with a crew full of sick passengers, by all means, we should bring them into the country and treat them. But don’t worry – the CDC figured it was probably fine. According to a release from the CDC, the ship was reported to have traveled to a port in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and others in Africa.

The Ebola Virus Is Spreading ‘Like Wildfire’ In Liberia

With warnings from officials that the Ebola virus is “spreading like wildfire” in Liberia, Sarah Crowe, who works for the UN children’s agency (Unicef), describes her week on the Ebola front line: Flights into disaster zones are usually full of aid workers and journalists. Not this time.

Ebola Spreading ‘Exponentially’ as Patients Seek Beds in Liberia

WHO and other groups have been warning that the situation in Liberia and Sierra Leone and Guinea is dire. It’s especially bad in Liberia, WHO said Monday. “Transmission of the Ebola virus in Liberia is already intense and the number of new cases is increasing exponentially,” WHO said in a statement.

Ebola spread exponential in Liberia, thousands of cases expected in September

The Ebola virus is spreading exponentially in Liberia, where many thousands of new cases expected over the coming three weeks, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday. In a statement, the WHO said that motorbike-taxis and regular taxis are “a hot source of potential virus transmission” in Liberia where conventional Ebola control interventions “are not having an adequate impact”. (Read the rest of the story here…)

Chaotic scene as an infected Ebola patient wanders into a Monrovia market to look for food

Video has emerged of Liberian ebola clinic workers dressed in contamination suits chasing an escaped patient through the streets after he left a treatment centre to visit a market. There were chaotic scenes as crowds followed infected man, who was wearing a wristband to show he had tested positive for the disease, and some stallholders argued with him as he approached. The patient escaped from Monrovia’s Elwa hospital, which last month was so crowded with cases of the deadly disease that it had to turn people away.

Dogs feed on dead bodies of Ebola victims in Liberia

The residents of the Mount Barclay Community within the Johnsonville Township, outside of Monrovia woke up on last Friday morning in total dismay when the remains of dead Ebola victims were reportedly seen, eaten by dogs, something reminiscent of the brutal civil war here, when dogs ate dead bodies on the streets. The Liberian Government, through the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, buried some unaccounted-for corpses, suspected to have died from the Ebola Virus in that township few weeks ago. The burial was done in a hurry at night following a standoff in the day between residence and the Ministry of Health burial team.

Liberian medic treated with experimental Ebola drug dies

A Liberian doctor treated with experimental American anti-Ebola serum ZMapp has died, a minister in the west African nation said on Monday. Abraham Borbor had been improving but died on Sunday night, Liberian Information Minister Lewis Brown told AFP. “He was showing signs of progress but he finally died.