- How Doubting The Deadly Ebola Virus
Disease Is Wiping Almost A Whole Family; But IsDoes Gov’t Care More About The
Dead Than The Living?
By Samuka V. Konneh
Over the weekend, KK lost his pregnant
wife and a teenage daughter; and the man himself is currently sick. Though
there was no medical examination before the deaths of the wife and daughter,
reports say they were ones taking care of the first set of two persons that
died from the virus. The mother got affected when she cared for the corpse of
her nurse-daughter.
Four down already, more
members, even distant relatives of this New Georgia community family and people
of the larger Mandingo and Muslim communities re feared to be at higher risk of
contracting the virus because KK, an alleged carrier, is roaming unrestrained.
After several failed attempts
to call in the Ebola Taskforce set up by the Liberian government, officers of
the Liberia National Police and health workers arrived at the New Georgia
Mosque to seize the suspected Ebola-corpses that were being washed and prayed
over. Instead of two, only the wife’s corpse was discovered and taken away by
the police and health workers – thanks to family members whom confirmed reports
say buried the daughter overnight at an undisclosed location.
Denial from Start to End
Although KK admits he is sick,
he denies carrying Ebola – same denial people say he had held during the times
he lost his families. “I am sick. I went to the
hospital and they told me I have typhoid; and I am taking typhoid treatment at a
clinic in Jamaica Road,” KK told a friend via mobile phone. Though he did not indicate
the particular clinic he is taking treatment, staffers at the main clinic on the
Jamaica Road denied treating KK for whatever sickness.
Alieu Konneh is the
Administrator at the Al-Hilal Medical Center, commonly known as the Muslim
Clinic. According o him, at no time did his clinic treat KK or any of his
family members. However, he admitted talking to a pharmacist in the same
vicinity, just around the Boatswain High School, who treated the KK’s deceased-wife
with bare hands. “No, we never treated anybody from that
family. His wife was taking treatment at one pharmacy around here. I spoke with
the guy in that pharmacy, he told me ‘that he referred them to a bigger
hospital since her condition was not improving. I think they went to Copper’s
Clinic,” Mr.
Konneh said in an interview.
For KK, there is no reason to
report himself. “What are the people saying? I don’t have
Ebola. I have typhoid and I am taking treatment. I am not going anywhere,” he told another friend
who spoke with him on phone loudspeaker- encouraging him to report himself to
health workers.
Abdullai Mohammed Keita was
around when health workers came over for the corpses. “Our problem
is not with those that have died already. Our problem is with the husband who
is sick, and we understand from the same Ebola virus disease that killed his
family. He is still passing among us – infecting all of us.
We are at huge risk
here, especially considering the kind of community we have. What more does this
man want to know about Ebola and the facts surrounding recent deaths in his
family before he stops doubting and denying this killer-disease? He is
infecting and killing us. Four of your members of the same family can’t just
die from malaria, you are sick and other people around you are sick. This is no
malaria. Why not report yourself. This is wickedness,” he told me.
Higher Risk: Long Chain Of
Person-to-Person Contacts
At the moment, there is
indication that more people might be risk of carrying the virus. Apart from
KK’s mother who contracted the virus from her daughter during caretaking, KK’s teenage
daughter is said to have contracted the virus while staying with her deceased
grandmother. Both KK and his deceased wife are said to have contracted the
virus during the same person-to-person contacts – although there is no
authentic information on the sequence of contraction and infection.
As confirmed information
indicates, KK’s daughter was buried without the knowing of many people and circumstances
surrounding the burial remain sketchy. However, there is no skepticism about
people getting involved with the process. This means people involved with the
burial might be possible Eboal-carriers. Also, his wife was taken at the New
Georgia mosques where scores of Muslims prayed over the body for burial.
Although the corpse was not washed by the group, it was transported from one point
to another – whether from a hospital or a home before reaching the mosque.
Since the body was lifted and carried by people, there is no doubt people might
have contacted each other.
One person put it squarely: “It was not machine that brought the body here. They were people and
that means those who touched this body are infected. Moreover, KK himself was
among us here today. He is sick yet he moves among us like there is nothing wrong
with him.”
On social media, comments over
reports that an Ebola-suspected corpse was in the open at the New Georgia
mosque were many but all pointed toward one direction: “aren’t people
aware of the Ebola circumstances these days?”
One poster, Benedictus Doctu
Yahn, said: “People will never learn. ‘Don’t wash dead bodies.’
They will never learn. We have a long way with a virus that can be stopped from
spreading provided people follow the instructions.”
Kla Edward Toomey: “Are they not hearing all the awareness?”
Yonnah Saba Kra: “How wicked people are. They’re spreading the virus to random people.
Oh! My God”
Charlotte Wonasue is a
neighbor to them. “This (report) is so true because they are my
neighbors and we never knew until his sister and mother died and KK is
seriously sick.”
She continued: “He is lying because he was the one who held his mother on his back and
put her in his car; and he is very sick. I saw him today but when he learned
that the community people were calling the Ebola team – that was when he left.The deaths occurred in the New Georgia Oldfield behind Jonathan Paylaylay’s
house – the first truck garage. Ask for Mr. Ansu Kromah, you will find the
place because they had the feast for KK’s mother in the same area,”
she added.
“He is a friend. He needs to come out to go through the
due processes to make sure that he is Ebola free or to be treated for his own
safety,” Mohammed
Segbemadee Konneh, a Liberian resident in Philadelphia said on Facebook.
More Concern for the Dead, Not
The Living-Carriers
While the government insists
it is exerting every effort and available resource to contain the spread of the
virus, many people think its strategies only put more people at eminent risk.
“See what the
government is doing. They collect the dead bodies and never care to arrest or
even ask for people the deceased might have contacted. This man lost his sister
and mother; now his wife and kid are dead. Are there no conscious people to ask
for people these dead people might have contacted while they were alive and
sick? No! You collect dead bodies and never quarantine their houses, or people
they have contacted. These people in turn will go about contacting and
infecting other people. This way, there is no way to contain the spread of the
virus. Let’s not pretend,” Marie Klay who stood watching the police
and health workers take away KK’s wife’s corpse, said in frustration.
During similar incidents at
the St. Tolbert Estate Junction on Monday where two persons died, people became
uneasy because health workers only took away the dead bodies when in fact they
were told that other people in the same house were sick and carrying symptoms
of Ebola. “They just took the dead bodies, threw them in the
car and then pulled off. Nothing more! So, the government is deliberately
allowing more people to carry the virus to infect other people. See what
Nigeria is doing just because of one Ebola death,” Marcus Sheriff of
Stephen Tolbert noted.
In Nigeria, 177 primary and
secondary contacts have been placed under surveillance or isolation just from
one Ebola death. Nigeria’s Heath Minister, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu Monday confirmed the figures. “It has been 22 days since EVD first landed in Nigeria. As at today,
177 primary and secondary contacts of the index case have been placed under
surveillance or isolation. 9 developed EVD, bringing the total number of cases
in Nigeria to 10. Of these 10, 2 have died (the Liberian American and the
Nigerian nurse) while 8 are alive and currently on treatment,” Prof.
Chukwu is quoted by the Vanguard.
In Liberia, where are more
than 190 confirmed Ebola deaths, report of isolating contacts is rare. A
prominent question asked by emergency responders is “is the person dead?” This,
citizens believe puts more concern on the dead than the living. “If you just talk of sick people and not dead body, no one cares for
your call,” a relative of dying lady said.