Abstract
BackgroundEbola virus disease has taken a toll on more than 8,000 lives in West Africa in 2014. The most affected countries are Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The number of people infected by Ebola in Sierra Leone surpassed that of Liberia in the last month in this year and almost half of human cases are distributed in this country.DiscussionThe ignorance on Ebola among people, including health workers at the early stage, plaid an important role in spread of Ebola virus disease. Subsequently, Ebola ravages urban settings for the first time and takes a huge toll on the lives. The government and international partners do make efforts to control the epidemic, however, lack of synergy make them lip service.SummaryThe leading role of government in the response to the epidemic should be emphasized. Basic information of Ebola should be quickly spread among communities by health education programme and social mobilization should be a basic measure for Ebola control.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/2049-9957-4-10) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Ebola virus disease has taken a toll on more than 8,000 lives in West Africa in 2014
Basic information of Ebola should be quickly spread among communities by health education programme and social mobilization should be a basic measure for Ebola control
At the beginning of September 2014, the Ebola epidemic has turned the corner in Liberia, but there is no sign to indicate its decline in Sierra Leone
Summary
Denial or ignorance: What is what as Ebola takes its toll? The outbreak of the EVD in the Kailahun district in Eastern Sierra Leone in May 2014 is a result of a socioeconomic, religious, cultural, and political accident. The people of the Kailahun district and some sections of the population thought that a plague of some sort was wrecking havoc on people’s lives They attributed this to an attempt by the Sierra Leone government to eliminate a section of the opposition population in the country. In the west of Sierra Leone, regarded as the most informed region, there are still mass gatherings of people in market places (see Figure 2), birthday parties are still being celebrated, and funeral rites are still being performed without the slightest panic over the contagious nature of the disease. These factors are all contributing to the virus spreading. Authors’ contributions MK and SL draft the manuscript and approved the final manuscript
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