A campaign
in western Sierra Leone and a ban on public celebrations during the end of year
holidays, are the latest efforts to combat Ebola. The area has overtaken
Liberia as the worst hit by the virus.
Announcing
the programme earlier this week, Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma,
said the door-to-door campaign would start on Wednesday with teams advising the
population and searching for sick people, so they could be transferred to
medical facilities.
In a
statement Tuesday, Koroma said operation "Western Surge" would last
until December 31. It was not clear if people had to stay in their homes and,
if so, for how long.
More than
half of new infections are occurring in the capital, Freetown, and its
surrounding areas in the western, coastal areas of the country.
Sierra Leone
has overtaken Liberia as the country with the highest number of Ebola
infections. Last week the government announced a nationwide ban on public
Christmas and New Year festivities.
International
visitors
The head of
the Anglican church, Britain's Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, was in
Freetown this week to meet with people affected by the outbreak. He said he was
"overwhelmed" by the people he met who have suffered from Ebola.
UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is expected to travel to Liberia, Sierra Leone,
Guinea and Mali later this week to review international efforts to tackle the
worst outbreak of the disease, which has left more than 6,800 people dead this
year.
Some 18,500
people have been infected since last December, the vast majority of cases in
Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.
Local
health systems have been overwhelmed, with too few doctors and nurses available
to treat those infected. Hundreds of foreign health workers have volunteered to
come to the three countries to support treatment efforts. On Tuesday the
African Union said 187 health workers from Ethiopia were due to arrive to start
work. The AU has promised a thousand people from its member states to help in
the fight against the virus.
While
researchers are working to find an effective treatment for the virus, there is
still no curative medicine available. Liberia has begun treating Ebola patients
with serum therapy - a treatment made from the blood of recovered survivors.
Scientists in
the US, UK and Canada are testing different kinds of vaccine in controlled
clinical trials with the of aim of having 20,000 doses for use in West Africa
by early next year.
Guinea
Guinea's
capital Conakry has also banned public Christmas and New Year celebrations to
combat the spread of the Ebola virus. Only about 10 percent of Guinea's
predominantly Muslim population is Christian but many people join in year-end
celebrations, whatever their beliefs.
"Large-scale
gatherings in public places are suspended for the moment," Conakry
governor Soriba Sorel Camara announced in a statement. "Beaches will
remain closed" and firecrackers and fireworks are also banned, he added.
jm/mg (AFP, AP)
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