By Kemoh Sesay
The Chief Executive Officer of the National Ebola Respond Center (NERC) has expressed optimism in the fight against the Ebola Virus Disease in Sierra Leone, citing “progress” in the past weeks.
But the Rtd Major Alfred Palo Conteh, while addressing press men at his weekly Press Conference at the NERC Headquarters on Wednesday, also warned against complaisance. He said the last two patients discharged from the IMC EVD treatment Center in Kambia marked the end of EVD event management in that district.
He also noted that the situation in Bombali District remained “very encouraging” with no secondary cases reported since the index case was recorded on the 13 September 2015.
Sierra Leone on Thursday October 1 entered sixth day into the WHO-recommendation 42-day countdown to be declared free of the deadly epidemic which has claimed over 11, 000 lives in West Africa, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
CEO Conteh said no EVD positive case was recorded in the country for the second consecutive week this week, and that 12 out of the 14 districts in the country had gone more that 42 days with no recorded cases. He also noted that 8 of the 12 districts had gone more than 100 days without recording cases.
But despite this promising outlook, the NERC boss said vigilance should remain the watch word, especially in light of discouraging reports from neighboring Guinea, where four new cases were recorded last week, according to the World Health Organization, in its Forecariah region.
Sierra Leone shares a busy border with Guinea in Kambia.
This, Conteh said, sends clear signal that “we must remain vigilant, especially in the Kambia axis.
Conteh stressed that the chance of ending Ebola in Sierra Leone also rested on two other major factors - the location of Kadiatu Sinneh Kamara, the missing contact from Kambia District, and the unnamed bike rider who reportedly carried the young deceased victim in Bombali to hospital.
The NERC has since pledged a Le5M reward for any information that led to the location of Ms Kamara, and it is urging the public to help locate the bike rider.
“These people are no criminals and we are not searching for them because we want to prosecute them, rather they may hold vital clues to ending the outbreak in this country,” Conteh said.
The NERC boss` statement also touched on Ebola survivors and the need to adhere to the standard burial policy which forbids people touching the dead. He threatened arrest for anyone found wanting for disobeying anti-Ebola regulations.
Survivors, he said, needed to be treated with respect. But he also called on survivors to remain vigilant in their sexual life.
(C) Politico Online 01/10/15
