A British mining company has evacuated a number of ‘non-essential’ workers from Sierra Leone following an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the west African country.
London Mining said it imposed travel restrictions in the region around its Marampa mine and was closely monitoring the situation with health chiefs and international agencies.
Officials in the country say there have been five deaths from Ebola and a dozen other cases of the deadly and highly contagious disease, following an outbreak in neighbouring Guinea.
Marampa facility has the appropriate medication and equipment to manage any potential occurrences of the disease. Ebola causes a high fever and severe bleeding. The mortality rate has been close to 70% according to the World Health Organisation.
Where does Ebola come form?
EVD outbreaks occur primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests.
How is it transmitted
The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.
The Symptoms
– Sudden high fever
– Weakness, muscle pain
Followed by
– Vomiting
– Diarrhoea
– Limited kidney and liver function
– Both internal and external bleeding
Daily Mail
Sierra Leone reported its first Ebola cases last week, marking the spread of the disease to a third West African nation in the worst outbreak of the virus in seven years. The latest began in neighboring Guinea, where at least 193 have died, while infections have also been reported in Liberia. The World Health Organization will meet in Guinea today to discuss the epidemic, which resurged last month after an initial outbreak in March.
( Bloomberg )