Ebola virus spreads, kills at least 4 in Sierra Leone

Health workers wearing protective suits walk in an isolation center for people infected with Ebola at Donka Hospital in Conakry, Guinea, on April 14, 2014. CELLOU BINANI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The World Health Organization says at least four people have died from an Ebola virus outbreak in Sierra Leone, in West Africa. The BBC reports one of the victims was a health care worker.

The cases were reported in a region of the country that borders Guinea, a "disease hotspot" where more than 250 cases of Ebola, and at least 174 deaths, have been reported in the last six months.

WHO says it is sending six international experts to help coordinate the response to the outbreak in Sierra Leone and distribute medical supplies.

Ebola was suspected in two previous deaths in Sierra Leone in March, involving people who had traveled from Guinea.

Ebola causes internal bleeding and organ failure and is fatal in up to 90 percent of cases. It spreads through direct contact with infected people or through contact with wild animals such as bats or monkeys which can harbor the virus.

There is no cure or vaccine, so containing the outbreak has focused on supportive care for those infected with the virus and isolating them to limit its spread.

The recent outbreak in Guinea likely began last December and may have been smoldering for some time before that unrecognized, health officials say. They believe it involves a new strain of the virus, not one associated with past outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Ebola was first identified in 1976.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ebola-virus-spreads-kills-several-in-sierra-leone/
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I believe there is no safe place to go. Even if there is a Ebola virus, I have to go. I still have two weeks to board an airplane, so I hope that Ebola will disappear soon. Go away Ebola! I will be there.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

I am ready to go!

It has been a long time to decide where my next journey should be. However, I had no doubt that I would be in Africa again. Two years ago, I went to Ghana in Africa when I was an undergraduate student at the University of Utah. Obviously, my public health experience in Ghana was the biggest reason to determine to enter public health graduate school, and I need to remind myself that I felt at that time.

When you hear the name of this country, Sierra Leone, it would be really unfamiliar to you. Certainly, the majority of people know many African countries, but they have not heard about Sierra Leone. Likewise, I only heard the country name, Sierra Leone, when I was taking Evolution lab class in Utah. My TA was planning to go to Sierra Leone for her Peace Corps project for two years. Today, I got in touch with her via facebook, and she said that she decided to be there one more year. Wow, I guess life in Sierra Leone should be amazing because she will have lived there for 3 years.

Even if my World Vision project in Sierra Leone is for 4-month duration, I am trying to be there longer than expected. Going to Africa is not normal chance, and I really want to be a real person who can actually help and develop the project, reducing neonatal/maternal mortality by using LiST (Lives Saved Tool).

I will leave for Sierra Leone on June 8th, and I am ready to go! Before boarding on airplane, I have to take a comprehensive exam and get a wonderful result in Sierra Leone. My journey in Africa is about to start, and my second story of "Africa with Us" will be continued soon.