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Associated Press
Health workers inform people about the Ebola virus and how to prevent infection in Conakry, Guinea. File picture: Youssouf Bah
Monrovia, Liberia - Liberia's president warned Monday that anyone caught hiding suspected Ebola patients will be prosecuted.
In an interview with state radio,
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf expressed concern that some patients had been kept
in homes and churches instead of receiving medical attention.
“Let this warning go out: Anyone
found or reported to be holding suspected Ebola cases in homes or
prayer houses can be prosecuted under the law of Liberia,” Sirleaf said.
Her comments came just days after
Sierra Leone issued a similar warning, saying some patients had
discharged themselves from the hospital and had gone into hiding.
Health workers have encountered
resistance throughout the region ever since Ebola cases were first
confirmed in March, and some have even been attacked.
The outbreak of the disease in
West Africa is already the deadliest on record, with 635 cases and 367
fatalities, according to the latest World Health Organization numbers. A
majority of the deaths - 280 - have been in Guinea where cases were
first reported.
In an
update released Monday, Liberia's health ministry said the country had
recorded 49 deaths as a result of Ebola, 26 of which were confirmed by
laboratory tests.
Sierra Leone has tallied 46
deaths, according to numbers released last week. That number was revised
downward from 78, however, after Sierra Leone's government requested
that the World Health Organization only report laboratory-confirmed
fatalities.
Laboratory testing is the only way
to definitively confirm the presence of Ebola, though not all patients
are tested because some don't receive medical treatment and some die
before samples can be taken, especially in the early stages of an
outbreak.
There is no cure for the deadly
disease caused by the Ebola virus which has an incubation period of two
to 21 days and starts with fever and fatigue before descending into
headaches, vomiting, violent diarrhea and then multiple organ failure
and massive internal bleeding.
Some symptoms of the disease can
be treated, however, and health workers also stress the importance of
submitting patients for medical care so they can be isolated. Ebola
spreads through contact with the bodily fluids of infected people,
including blood and sweat.
Liberia's health ministry has set
up treatment centers and started a public service campaign to slow the
spread of the disease, including training health professionals to use
protective clothing while forbidding hospitals to turn away patients
with Ebola symptoms.
Sirleaf's comments on Monday seemed partly intended to dispel rumors in Liberia that the outbreak isn't real.
“It is, as I speak, taking the
lives of our citizens,” she said. “The disease is real and is in our
country and can kill a lot of people.” http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/liberians-face-jail-over-ebola-1.1712043
