Health care workers have quickly responded to a recent flare-up of the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone, offering families who are suffering from the flare-up relief from the disease.
Two people who tested positive for the Ebola virus were isolated and held under medical supervision. Dozens of people who were in contact with the two patients were all placed under similar isolation and supervision.
Officials from the World Health Organization and health authorities from Sierra Leone have detected people who came in contact with the young woman who had the virus. Dozens of these people have been quarantined and observed.
The young woman’s aunt tested positive for the virus. She began treatments immediately and her contacts were also found, quarantined and supervised for the required 21 days.
It is important to remain on guard, as a young woman from Tonkolili District recently died from the virus.
“The response to this latest flare-up underscores the importance of quickly identifying contacts of a person infected with or who died from Ebola and separating them from the community in order to prevent further transmission,” Dr. Anders Nordstrom, WHO country representative in Sierra Leone, said. “It illustrates the capacity now in place in Sierra Leone to manage such emergencies should Ebola resurface in the future.”
