Suspected Viral Haemorrhagic Fever Case Under Investigation in Sierra Leone After Health Worker’s Death
Sierra Leone is investigating a suspected case of acute viral haemorrhagic fever following the death of a female health worker in the west of the capital, Freetown.
It comes 10 years after the country was hit by Ebola, a viral haemorrhagic fever disease, which killed nearly 4,000 people.
According to the country’s health ministry, the 29-year-old had been working at the public hospital in the eastern Kono district where she fell ill and travelled to Freetown for further treatment. She became ill with recurrent fever, weakness, vomiting and diarrhoea.
She visited a hospital in Freetown and died at the triage of a second. Her travel history shows that she had visited Liberia in late October to treat patients there.
The country’s health surveillance teams have collected samples for lab analysis, and 13 contacts – four of them primary ones – have been identified, line-listed and advised to limit their movements to avoid the risk of any transmission there might be, until the results are out.
Calling on all health authorities & government this time around to not take things for granted as WHO lacklustered with lives of SLeoneans from ebola in 2014. Please do not be thrown offguard, be on the alert, apply all applicable measures to prevent the spread of that terrible contagion to the people of this country. Thank you.