Escaped Ebola patients back in hospital

Escaped patients re-admitted to the hospital

08/19/2014

After an angry mob stormed a quarantine station in the capital of Liberia and 17 infected Ebola patients had fled, now all the escaped patients are back in the clinic, according to the news agency „Reuters“. Given the risk of infection emanating from Ebola patients, national and international health authorities were extremely worried about the reports of the flight of the infected.

At the weekend, Ebola patients had fled the provisional quarantine center of a hospital in the slums of Monrovia, the capital. An angry crowd had stormed the quarantine station earlier. With the escape from the converted school building, the infected also escaped the medical care and the authorities feared a transfer of the deadly virus to many other people. This was followed by an intensive search for the patients. Now it was possible to find all 17 again and to accommodate them in a special clinic, reports the news agency „Reuters“ citing the Liberian Information Minister Lewis Brown.

Liberia currently suffers most from the Ebola epidemic, which started in Guinea at the end of last year. Every day new reports about infections and deaths are added. 834 Ebola infections and 466 deaths have so far been reported from Nigeria to the World Health Organization (WHO). Overall, the Ebola epidemic in West Africa has so far affected 2,240 people and killed 1,229 people as a result of the infection, according to the WHO. Given the scale of the epidemic, WHO decided to use untreated drugs just over a week ago. This includes the drug „zmapp“, which were supplied to Liberia for the care of the patients. Information Minister Liberias said in this regard that the three African doctors who are currently being treated with the drug „considerable signs of improvement“ show, according to the news agency „Reuters“. (Fp)

Picture credits: Dieter Schütz