Sierra Leone's first Ebola-hit community reconsiders its traditions

By AFP 12 May 2016

Violently coughing up blood, the woman was close to collapse when brought to Kailahun hospital in eastern Sierra Leone from her village close to the Guinean border.

For nursing staff, the spectre of the killer Ebola virus had returned.

"My staff went into PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)," said Samuel Massaquoi, medical superintendent of the hospital. "People said that if she came from near Guinea she had Ebola."

Urging calm, the doctor immediately implemented the screening measures used at the outbreak's height, when Ebola cases arrived on a daily basis.

That was one month ago -- the patient was instead diagnosed with advanced tuberculosis -- but it is a clear example of how the the fear of Ebola still grips the heart of this community.

The district was the first in the country to record cases back in May 2014 after the initial outbreak in southern Guinea.

see more at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3586258/Sierra-Leones-Ebola-hit-community-reconsiders-traditions.html