Comment on Cremation fears leave empty Ebola beds in Liberia

By JONATHAN PAYE-LAYLEH, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle: World
Thu, 10/23/2014 - 12:50pm

Cremation fears leave empty Ebola beds in Liberia

Cremation violates Liberians' values and cultural practices and the order has so disturbed people in the west African nation that the sick are often kept at home and, if they die, are secretly buried, increasing the risk of more infections The order came after people in neighborhoods of the capital resisted burials of hundreds of Ebola victims near their homes. [...] a recent analysis of space at Ebola treatment centers shows that of 742 beds available, more than half — 391 — were vacant, said Assistant Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah, who heads the government's Ebola response. Before burial, church congregations also pray over the body. Since the latest outbreak of Ebola, these burial customs have been ordered halted when it comes to victims of the deadly virus because of the dangers they pose. The Ebola virus is spread through the body fluids of an infected person and can endure in corpses, posing a danger to those who handle them. Guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States call for the bodies of Ebola victims to be handled only by those trained in handling infected human remains who are wearing the proper protective equipment.

 

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