Ebola Rates Accelerate in Sierra Leone

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Health workers transport the body of a person suspected to have died of the Ebola virus in Port Loko Community, situated on the outskirts of Freetown, Sierra Leoneon Oct. 21, 2014.
Health workers transport the body of a person suspected to have died of the Ebola virus in Port Loko Community, situated on the outskirts of Freetown, Sierra Leoneon Oct. 21, 2014.Michael Duff—AP
By Naina Bajekal

The number of people infected with the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone each day is nine times higher than it was two months ago, according to new data.

The rate appears to be accelerating particularly in the rural areas surrounding the capital Freetown, the London Times reports. Compared with an average of 1.3 Ebola cases a day at the start of September, there were 12 new cases a day in late October, says the Africa Governance Initiative (AGI), an organization set up by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Transmission also appears to be increasing rapidly in the capital, Freetown, where the average number of daily cases is six times higher than two months ago.

Last week, there were reports that Ebola cases were falling in neighboring Liberia, the country so far hit hardest by Ebola. “Whilst new cases appear to have slowed in Liberia, Ebola is continuing to spread frighteningly quickly in parts of Sierra Leone,” AGI says.

The WHO says Ebola transmission remains “widespread and intense” in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The virus has so far infected over 13,000 people and claimed at least 4,951 lives.

[The Times]

 

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Write to Naina Bajekal at naina.bajekal@time.com