Police in the Liberian capital, Monrovia where the deadly Ebola virus has killed many people, have said that angry protestors have attacked one of the facilities for the treatment of the disease.
The angry mob were said to have attacked the facility in the city’s densely populated West Point Township which was serving as a quarantine centre for some Ebola patients.
Protestors were said to have looted the facility, taking away beds, mattresses and medical equipments meant for treating the patients. Health officials say the protestors stand a high risk of contracting the disease.
The protestors were said to be mostly young men and were armed with clubs and sticks, shouting insults on President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for failing to prevent the Ebola outbreak in the country.
“This is one of the stupidest things I have ever seen in my life, all between the houses you could see people fleeing with items looted from the patients”, an anonymous health official was quoted by the BBC African Service as saying.
There are conflicting reports over the fate of the patients who were in the facility before the attack. Some reports say all 17 patients in the facility have escaped while other reports say 10 of the patients were taken away by their families.
Local reporters say the protestors were unhappy about the quarantine centre being set up in their neighborhood as they fear that they could be at risk of contracting the virus due to the proximity nature of the facility.
Ebola is spread by contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids, such as sweat and blood, and no cure or vaccine is currently available. An untested ZMapp drug arrived in Liberia last week for the treatment of Ebola but has not showed any effectiveness in combating the disease.
Official death toll of the Ebola virus recorded by the World Health Organization indicates that More than 400 people have died from the virus in Liberia alone, out of a total of 1,145 deaths recorded in West Africa.
The Ebola epidemic began in Guinea in February and has since spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. The hard hit countries are Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Ebola is a deadly fever which causes an extremely severe disease in humans and in non-human primates in the form of viral hemorrhagic fever. Symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, high fever, general weakness, organ failure and heavy bleeding.
Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News
Writer’s Email Address: Adamsisska@googlemail.com
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