By Steven Bockarie Mansaray Kabala
The Coordinator of the Koinadugu District Ebola Taskforce says anyone who dies of Ebola in the district henceforth will be cremated.
Momoh Konte said this to Politico after the district became the last to record a confirmed case of Ebola - two people who have already died.
Konteh said the house where the deceased lived in Fankoya, Niene chiefdom, would be burned tomorrow, as well as the two others neighbouring it. He said residents of the two houses would be relocated by the chief and in three months they would be given funds to rebuild.
All of this comes as the disease surveillance officer in Koinadugu, Abdul K. Sesay said two of the six samples sent from Fankoya - some 60 miles from the district headquarter town of Kabala - had tested positive for Ebola.
He said that sometime last week, the District Health Management Team received complaints from the nurse at Fankoya health centre that people were dying and the cause was not known. A total of 15 people have died so far in the village.
A team of health workers including a World Health Organisation representative in Koinadugu district were in Fankoya to investigate the matter but the village authorities attributed the deaths to witchcraft and other traditional beliefs.
Sesay said the DHMT had only one ambulance sent for the Ebola response which he said was concerning, considering the size of the district and its poor road network.
The 60-mile journey from Kabala to Fankoya van last for a whole day because of the poor condition of the road further made worse by local palm tree bridges. The town itself has been isolated and ex-servicemen, soldiers and police have been deployed there to provide security while the district Ebola taskforce, DHMT, EOC are planning on how to mobilise the required resources to reach and observe more communities in Neine chiefdom.
There are plans to isolate the entire chiefdom as a way of controlling the spread of the disease to other parts of the district.
The construction of a holding centre at Kasumpay is in progress with support from Catholic Relief Service, Cause Canada and Medicos del Mundo.
With Koinadugu having recorded its first cases of Ebola, many residents and descendants of the district have expressed the urgent need for the completion of the holding centre. Kabala residents are also worried about suspect cases being admitted in the isolation ward at the Kabala government hospital.
Meanwhile members of the district Ebola task force committee have left for the remaining chiefdoms to organise them in the provision of security and strict implementation of Ebola-related bye-laws for the protection of the district.
Residents at a house at Lansana Street in Kabala which was quarantined have been released after 21 days with no signs and symptoms of the Ebola virus.
But news of the first confirmed Ebola cases has caused fear and panic among residents in the district. One of them, Sorie Marah told Politico that they were worried because of the porous nature of the district, its poor roads and distance to the treatment centre especially so when there is no treatment centre in the entire Northern region.
Sallay Kamara, a pregnant woman, said women were particularly concerned as it would adversely affect their daily activities.
(C) Politico 16/10/14
