Ebola Update

There is a continuing lack of safe disposal of bodies, with burial teams striking in several areas due to non-payment of hazard pay. News sources are reporting that bodies of Ebola victims are being left unburied in Kenema. An eighth doctor is reported to have contracted Ebola and is being treated in Hastings.

Burial workers in the Sierra Leonean city of Kenema have dumped bodies in public in protest at non-payment of allowances for handling Ebola victims.

The workers, who went on strike over the issue, left 15 bodies abandoned at the city’s main hospital.

One of the bodies was reportedly left by the hospital manager’s office and two others by the hospital entrance.

According to latest situation in Mali reported by the Ministry of Health, one more person has been confirmed with Ebola and two cases are under treatment at the Bamako treatment centre, making it eight confirmed cases and seven deaths.

Over 400 contacts have been identified, around 280 of whom are being monitored. At least 135 individuals have completed their 21-day monitoring period with no symptoms.The Ministry of Health confirmed that the doctor who cared for the imam at Pasteur Clinic has died. A Guinean imam who came to the country on 25 October is believed to have spread the virus.

A Spanish doctor working for MSF in Bamako has suffered a needle-stick injury whilst treating an Ebola patient. She does not have any symptoms, but will be flown to Madrid for monitoring.

An American military volunteer has also contracted Ebola virus in Liberia.