Liberia Burials Key in Ebola Fight

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Thu, 2015-04-30 19:28 — mike kraft

VOICE OF AMERICA by Joe DeCapua April 30, 2015

The World Health Organization is set to declare Liberia Ebola free. It will make that declaration on May 9th if no new cases are reported. In a sign of how the situation has improved, the Liberian Red Cross has handed back responsibility for safe burials to the Ministry of Health.

A man is sprayed with disinfectant after he celebrated the memory of a loved one who died due to the Ebola virus at a newly built grave yard for Ebola virus victims in Monrovia, Liberia, Wednesday, March 11, 2015. Liberians held a church service Wednesday for families who lost members to Ebola to mark the country’s 99th celebration National Decoration Day, a holiday normally set aside for people to clean up and re-decorate the graves of their lost relatives. (AP Photo/Abbas Dulleh)

The Red Cross became the lead agency – for what it calls – safe and dignified burials – in Montserrado County in July of last year.... The county includes the capital Monrovia. The agency assumed responsibility at the request of the Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

In Monrovia, Anita Dullard is the spokesperson for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. She said traditional burials during a time of Ebola can be very dangerous.

“Unfortunately, the dead bodies of Ebola victims are actually almost at their most contagious and remain so for up to 10 days after the person has deceased. So, washing of the bodies or open casket and contact with the bodies – the difficulty with Ebola of course is that it’s spread by bodily fluid and contact with the person who has died....

Dullard doubts Liberia would be on the verge of being Ebola-free unless burial protocols were strictly enforced.

Read complete story.
http://www.voanews.com/content/ebola-burials-liberia-30apr15/2743281.html

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