MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Officials in western Africa are taking increasingly desperate measures to stop the spread of Ebola.
In Liberia, troops in full combat gear were deployed in the rain today to block people traveling to the country’s capital from rural areas hit by the deadly disease. In Sierra Leone, military forces are also being used to stop what’s called “the unauthorized movement of Ebola-infected persons.”
Those two countries account for more than 60 percent of the nearly 1,000 deaths from Ebola since March.
Meanwhile, officials say Africans seeking a drug to help contain the virus will have to wait months before a potentially life-saving experimental treatment is produced in even small amounts. The treatment is currently being used on two infected Americans who were flown from Africa to Atlanta.
The health minister of Nigeria told reporters today that he has asked the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about access to the drug. A CDC spokesman said yesterday that “there are virtually no doses available.”
That isn’t satisfying people in the countries hard-hit by Ebola. One man in Sierra Leone said, “Americans are very selfish.” He said, “They only care about the lives of themselves and no one else.”
%@AP Links
204-a-12-(Dr. Thomas Frieden, director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifying before House Foreign Affairs subcommittee)-“Ebola put together”-Centers For Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Thomas Frieden says the current Ebola outbreak is unprecedented. (7 Aug 2014)
<
206-a-15-(Dr. Thomas Frieden, director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifying before House Foreign Affairs subcommittee)-“in the U.S. (second reference)”-Centers For Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Thomas Frieden says Ebola could be controlled if it appears in the U.S. (7 Aug 2014)
<
APPHOTO AMDF105: Construction works are seen outside the recently opened but unstaffed Ebola treatment center in the village of Lakka on the outskirts of Freetown, Sierra Leone, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. While the Ebola virus outbreak has now reached four countries, Liberia and Sierra Leone account for more than 60 percent of the deaths, according to the World Health Organization. The outbreak that emerged in March has claimed at least 932 lives. (AP Photo/Michael Duff) (7 Aug 2014)
< Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
