Health authorities in Freetown have recorded 3,832 of more than
10,000 Ebola deaths in the outbreak, which began in southern Guinea in December
2013 before spreading to Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Ebola, one of the deadliest viruses known to man, is spread only
through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person showing
symptoms such as fever or vomiting or the recently deceased. Palo Conteh, the
national Ebola response chief, said traditional funeral rights involving
contact with the dead remained the biggest driver of Ebola transmission.
Unsafe burials were common at the start of the epidemic but the
latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO) show just one was reported
in Sierra Leone in the week to March 29. Alimamy Kamara, head of the Ebola
Response Centre in charge of Freetown and the surrounding area, said last week
that people organising unsafe burials risked two year jail terms.
“People should adhere to the government policy of safe and
dignified burials so that we can end the high rate of transmission of the Ebola
virus,” he said. As of Sunday, 25,516 had contracted the virus and 10,573 had
died, according to the WHO.
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