EBOLA: OUR WORK IS NOT OVER

“Last Tuesday we carried out examination number one thousand at the Ebola diagnosis lab that EMERGENCY has been running since August at the paediatric and maternal/infants’ hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone,” writes Luca, our coordinator in the country.

On 8th November, the WHO declared that the epidemic in the country was over, but that doesn’t mean we can lower our defences: the WHO itself recommended a period of “high surveillance” to ensure that any suspected cases are noted straight away and thereby avoid any new spreading of the virus.

The work of our laboratory will continue throughout this period, until the end of February, in part thanks to the support of the Italian Cooperation.

Our lab is located in one of the most crowded hospitals of the capital and, given its target of children and women about to give birth, it is of strategic importance.

We’re now waiting for February, hoping with all our hearts we’ll be able to write that Sierra Leone won’t need EMERGENCY any more, at least in its battle against Ebola.