Sierra Leone News: Bombali Ebola :Five Dead, 6 more Suspects Confirmed

Politics

The Bombali District Disease Surveillance Officer, Sorie Bundu has confirmed to Awoko that they have so far recorded 5 deaths of Ebola patients in the district with 6 more suspected cases under surveillance, 5 positively confirmed and one probably dead. Sorie Bundu said nearly a week after the Ebola virus was confirmed to have killed a suspected patient who was admitted at the Government referral hospital in Makama on Friday 24th July 2014 under surveillance but later escaped from the hospital and died in the hands of his relatives, his department has been busy if not busier on a daily basis than other departments. The District Diseases surveillance Officer said with all their sensitization messages through radio discussions and road show on handling suspected Ebola patients, relatives of the first confirmed death went on to wash and bury the victim. The victim’s father who proved very stubborn when they wanted to take him to hospital for collection of his blood sample and surveillance, later ran away and died at the Magburaka hospital. Sorie Bundu said as at present, they have recorded 5 deaths with 6 new suspected Ebola cases of which 5 have been positively confirmed and one probably dead as his where-abouts is yet to be known. He said they have instituted committees involving stakeholders, health partners, Civil Society and Community- Based Organizations to embark on a robust sensitization and daily chiefdom and areas updates. The district was alleged to have been suffering from none availability of chlorines, working ambulance, Personal Protective (PP) equipment for nurses and other health workers at the Government referral hospital in Makeni in readiness for Ebola, if it gets to the worst in that part of the country. The District Disease Surveillance Officer, confirmed that indeed there was a limited amount of chlorine for the district before now but expressed their appreciation to ADDAX Bio-energy for supporting them with a full drum of liquid chlorine which according to him, they are trying to distribute to the district’s 102 Peripheral Health Units (PHU) and major public places within the city in particular. He said they are intending to train 142 Ebola contact tracers for the district of which 60 will be in the chiefdoms, 20 for PHU’s and 48 to be stationed in the headquarter for emergency cases within Makeni municipality. He called on residents in the district to be vigilant and proactive to use the mixed chlorine at various points in the city and to serve as ambassadors in informing health workers of any suspected case. By Mohamed Kabba Thursday July 31, 2014

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