Ebola: More than 100 people quarantined in Sierra Leone

(Baonghean.vn) - On January 17, the Ministry of Health and the National Security Office of Sierra Leone announced that the country had quarantined more than 100 people who may have been infected after they came into contact with a patient who died from Ebola hemorrhagic fever.

Anti-Ebola signs continue to be displayed in Sierra Leone. (AP photo)

According to a joint statement from the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and National Security Office, the country recorded one death from Ebola hemorrhagic fever last week.

The victim was Mariatu Jalloh, a 22-year-old female student. Health authorities have quarantined 109 people who had contact with the victim. Of the 109 people quarantined, 28 are considered high-risk for infection.

It is worth noting that on January 14th, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that no new cases of Ebola infection had been recorded in West Africa recently. This can be seen as a wake-up call, not only for the general public but also for local authorities, that the Ebola virus has not completely disappeared from West Africa.

In December 2013, an Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreak began in the forests of eastern Guinea before spreading to neighboring Sierra Leone and Liberia. By December 2014, the Ebola epidemic peaked, with cases reported in seven more countries, including Nigeria, Spain, and the United States. Since its discovery, Ebola has claimed the lives of more than 11,000 people. However, the majority of deaths have been recorded in three West African countries.

Chu Thanh

(According to Le Monde)