Message from Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., Kathleen FitzGibbon: Last night, President Obama announced additional support, including the deployment of U.S. troops to the region, to fight the Ebola epidemic. The U.S. already has contributed $175 million to the region and is mobilizing even more support. As you know, the affected countries have been increasingly isolated with the suspension of many airlines. The U.S. military will be establishing an air bridge to service Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, to bring in supplies and humanitarian personnel into the affected countries. It will be headquartered in Liberia and there may be another sub-regional hub as well. This is a welcome development for the massive logistics undertaking necessary to effectively fight Ebola. We will provide more details as they become available. We are extremely proud of the active role that President Obama is playing in mobilizing support to assist those of us on the frontlines of the Ebola battle. I want to emphasize how important it is for everyone to participate in the House-to-House campaign. The number of positive Ebola cases per day is increasing. One very important point that I want to share: infections from burials continue despite prohibitions in place. It is critical that trained burial teams handle people who have died from Ebola. Their bodies can still transmit Ebola. I know that this is very difficult for families who have lost a loved one or a respected member of the community. Right now, we need to suspend traditions and customs regarding burials and find ways to honor the passage of loved ones that will not infect other persons. Also remember that isolation is the only way to break the transmission of Ebola. Ebola is essentially a household disease. This is why the House-to-House campaign is critical at this juncture. All Sierra Leoneans must be informed of how the virus spreads and how to prevent becoming infected. When one family member is infected, others soon follow through close contact or care-giving. Treatment centers, including community care centers, are still coming on line to meet the demand for beds. These centers are critical to isolating Ebola patients to stop the transmission to other family members. Caring for an Ebola victim in the home is not a good option. However, if this occurs while a family is seeking proper isolation, please limit the number of family members that come in contact with the victim and take protective measures. Contact health authorities to help. Please support the House-to-House campaign. This is the biggest crisis to hit Sierra Leone since the civil war. If everyone comes together in dialogue with the teams, we can end some of the misconceptions and be better able to take individual actions to break the transmission of Ebola. Let’s all do what we can to Kick Ebola Out of Town!
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 14:44:45 +0000
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