How Ebola Found Fertile Ground in Sierra Leone's Chaotic Capital

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Wed, 2015-01-28 11:30 — mike kraft

Kroo Bay in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, became an Ebola hot spot in December. In one of the city's most densely populated areas, residents had a difficult time avoiding contact with people potentially infected with Ebola.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC by Amy Maxman Photos by Pete Muller Jan. 27, 2015
....A close examination of what made Freetown so vulnerable to the outbreak offers critical lessons for the future in fighting Ebola or another major calamity.

Like many developing world cities, Freetown—population 941,000, the largest city in Sierra Leone—lacks the infrastructure to support its impoverished populace, making it prone to tragedy, whether through pestilence, violence, or natural disaster. Despite its congestion, Freetown continues to attract people who come in search of work, school, and the mere promise of electricity. It's no coincidence that typhoid and cholera regularly plague Freetown and that Sierra Leone's civil war climaxed in the city with horrific bloodshed.

... an overlooked factor continues to complicate attempts to control the contagion.

In the varied quilt of the city—the concrete alleys of Kroo Bay, the littered riverbanks of Crab Town, the street markets of Waterloo, the shady woods of Devil's Hole—distinct social and cultural characteristics emerge. To persuade many who live in these diverse pockets to take precautions against Ebola, outreach efforts must take these differences into account—a daunting task.

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http://news-beta.nationalgeographic.com/2015/01/150127-ebola-virus-outbreak-epidemic-sierra-leone-freetown-photos-pictures/

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