The battle against the West African Ebola outbreak suffered a huge setback this weekend. A clinic and quarantine center for suspected patients in the Liberian capital of Monrovia was attacked late yesterday and infected patients and items were removed.
The fear of the deadly virus turned ugly in as the angry mob raided a treatment center in the largest slum in Monrovia. The mob forced open an Ebola isolation ward chanting “no Ebola in West Point†— the name of the slum. They then looted the clinic, removing contaminated medical items, instruments and soiled bedding. It’s believed as many as 29 patients fled the treatment center and their whereabouts are unknown.
Ebola outbreak
Officials try to contain the largest-ever Ebola outbreak that has spread across West Africa since March and infected thousands
Doctors Without Borders have likened the Ebola outbreak in West Africa to war, and said the situation is deteriorating faster than they can respond to it. Aiding the spread of the virus in the region are dysfunctional health systems and a desperate shortage of trained health workers.
Treatment centers are filling up faster than they can be provided. Classrooms have been turned into makeshift isolation units. In one visited by CBS News, a sick child lied on a mattress as a woman cried for help after her husband collapsed. One man’s body was dumped in the street and left there for two days.
Doctors Without Borders are building two new treatment centers in Monrovia, but emergency coordinator Lindis Hurum says it is not enough.
“Unfortunately, neither of these two units will be sufficient to cover for the need to isolate and care for the patients,†Hurum said.
Already the death toll is well over 1,000, and the number of cases nearly 2,000. The World Health Organization is scaling up its international response, saying extraordinary measures are needed to contain the virus. Health officials say it could continue for another six months.