Stricken with Ebola, a family runs away from treatment — and into the jungle

November 21, 2014 - A family behind a bright orange quarantine rope learns of the death of a family member.
Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post

WASHINGTON POST--by Kevin Sieff                                                                 Dec. 4, 2014
KOINADUGU, Sierra Leone --
...Six months after the world’s largest Ebola outbreak began, experts say one of their biggest challenges is persuading people to trust the medical system. Families still hide suspected Ebola victimsor refuse to take them to health facilities. The problem exists in Liberia, but some foreign health officials say it’s even more daunting in Sierra Leone, where the transmission rate continues to climb even as it declines in the neighboring country.

In rural areas like Koinadugu, a district bordering Guinea, the problem is especially severe. There is no electricity or running water, let alone a modern hospital. Medicine usually means local herbs, generic malaria pills or the advice of a local healer. People whisper that disinfectant spreads the disease rather than kills it.

...Health workers knew that many families here viewed their whole operation with skepticism, and they understood why.

“Their kids are taken away, and they don’t have any information,” said Gisa Kohler, the World Health Organization’s team leader in Koinadugu. “Of course they’re not going to trust us....”

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/stricken-with-ebola-a-family-runs-away-from-treatment--and-into-the-jungle/2014/12/03/9688da68-71c8-11e4-a2c2-478179fd0489_story.html?hpid=z4