Sierra Leone News

A Nigerian mobile lab has been operating in Sierra Leone as part of the international effort to help test Ebola samples in the current outbreak. The lab saves critical hours by testing the samples rapidly and reducing the need to transport samples over long distances. The lab plans to return to Nigeria to work on Lassa fever when the Ebola outbreak is over.

11 March 2015 - In February 2015, cases of Ebola began appearing among the community of fishermen living in the coastal area of Aberdeen in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Over 20 cases occurred at the same time, suggesting they had been infected by one source, possibly an unsafe burial. WHO and partners immediately sent teams into the district to work with the community to identify all Ebola cases and those who had been in contact with them, to prevent further infections.

24 February 2015, Freetown - Today, the World Health Organization's Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, wraps up her visit to Sierra Leone, her first to an Ebola affected country.

Freetown, 22 February 2015 -- Today, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the newly elected WHO Regional Director for Africa, starts her four-day visit to Sierra Leone to get a better understanding of the Ebola response activities on the ground and reconfirm her commitment to the on-going Ebola outbreak. As of 20 February, Sierra Leone has reported 8244 confirmed Ebola cases, including 3066 deaths. While the number of new cases appears to be declining over the past weeks, a mixed picture emerges in different districts.

The "Rescue Team", an association set up by Ebola survivors to help fellow survivors trying to put their lives back together again, is now exploring ways to contribute to the Ebola outbreak response in Sierra Leone.
"How can I make a life when I have no hope? My future is blind," says Sherrie Bangura as he contemplated life after recovering from Ebola virus disease.

One of the great challenges in this Ebola outbreak is finding ways to safely provide essential health services like child immunization while still fighting the Ebola outbreak. This is the story of what the community health care team in Kamasondo village are doing to reach all the babies born in the district during the Ebola outbreak and vaccinate them against common childhood killers.

Three Liberian ambulances, with 20 Liberian staff joining their Sierra Leonean colleagues in the fight to end Ebola
After a two-day journey bumping along more than 500 kms over rough roads and dirt tracks, 3 ambulances and a team of 20 Liberian health experts have arrived at last in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone.
The team aims to train up its Sierra Leonean counterparts and establish the base of a First Responder Team. They plan to stay at least 6 months and the ambulances will remain in Sierra Leone.

WHO’s social mobilization team is using radio to reach communities with information about how to prevent the spread of Ebola in Sierra Leone.
Reaching communities not just physically, but psychologically and emotionally as well.
“My work as a social mobilizer is to pass on key messages to convince people to stop the cultural and traditional practices that are fuelling the spread of Ebola,” says Zainab Akiwumi, who leads the WHO social mobilization team in Sierra Leone.

Two successive emergency response campaigns in Sierra Leone to distribute anti-malarial drugs to people living in areas affected by the Ebola virus disease outbreak have successfully reached more than 2.5 million people, and significantly reduced the number of people with fever that might be mistaken for Ebola virus disease (EVD).

Kailahun district in eastern Sierra Leone was one of the country’s first hotspots in the Ebola outbreak, at its peak reporting more than 80 new cases per week in late June 2014. With the assistance of WHO and partners, combined with the close involvement of community leaders, the district has managed to beat the disease and has reported no new cases for several weeks. There is no room for complacency however. Community teams and health workers are on high alert and are ready to react quickly to any possible new infection.