Bodies Of Ebola Victims Being Left In Streets As Burial Workers Strike
The dead bodies of Ebola victims were being left in the streets and homes of Sierra Leone’s Capital, Freetown, because burial crews had not been paid for transporting the victims up until Wednesday, posing a high risk for citizens. The number of deaths of Ebola victims in Sierra Leone reaches the hundreds daily, according to the Daily Mail. This level of Ebola outbreak occurring in a region that is so densely populated, makes the spread of disease much easier.
Sierra Leone, a country located in West Africa, is one of the places where the outbreak of Ebola has been most prevalent. The lives of more than 3,400 Ebola victims have been claimed in the West African region already. The Ebola outbreak has gotten so extreme in the country that burial crews are expected to retrieve the bodies of Ebola victims from the homes and within the streets of Sierra Leone, rather than retrieving the victims from hospitals.
According to the CDC, Ebola is spread from victim to victim through bodily fluids such as saliva, urine, and sweat, in addition to objects contaminated by the virus. Healthcare workers are most at risk, and the virus is more readily spread in a healthcare environment. Burial crews also have legitimate fears for contracting the virus because Ebola is highly contagious even after the victim’s death. These workers are putting themselves at high risk of contracting Ebola every time they come into contact with the body of an Ebola victim.
ABC News reports that the workers have since returned to work one day after their strike was called, a claim made by Sierra Leone’s Deputy Health Minister. The Ebola burial teams have apparently been promised they would receive their hazard pay for removal of the bodies of the Ebola victims by the end of the day.
The fear of Ebola has swept the world, as the virus jumps from continent to continent. Finding its way first to North America, then making its debut in Europe earlier this week — the first victim of Ebola transmission outside of West Africa has many people on the alert. This is especially since the Ebola transmission in Spain affecting a healthcare worker. Reported by The Daily Beast, Zsuzsanna Jakab, Europe Director for the World Health Organization (WHO) says the cases of Ebola victims will increase; it’s inevitable.
“Such imported cases and similar events as have happened in Spain will happen also in the future, most likely… It is quite unavoidable.”
In Europe, where healthcare facilities are top-notch, what went wrong? Spain claims to have followed all the protocol for avoiding Ebola transmission yet Ebola has infiltrated their borders. Meanwhile in Liberia, health workers have expressed that they will strike if their demands for higher wages and more safety equipment were not filled by week’s end (ABC News), a fair demand given the threat of an Ebola pandemic.
