LIBERIA-EBOLA/VACCINE Ebola survivors in Liberia battle stigma, hope vaccine can tackle fear

Record ID: 143767

  • Title: LIBERIA-EBOLA/VACCINE Ebola survivors in Liberia battle stigma, hope vaccine can tackle fear
  • Date: 17th August 2015
  • Summary: MONROVIA, LIBERIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF EBOLA TREATMENT UNIT (ETU) VARIOUS OF EBOLA SURVIVORS OUTSIDE EBOLA TREATMENT UNIT (ETU) HEALTH OFFICIAL HANDING KORSO KOLLIE A CERTIFICATE AND SHAKING HANDS YOUNG SURVIVORS RECEIVING CERTIFICATES AMBULANCES LEAVING ETU MARGIBI, LIBERIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF KOLLIE COOKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) KORSO KOLLIE, EBOLA SU
  • Embargoed: 1st September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Liberia
  • Country: Liberia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA5U3B5SDZC3OIPKJ2303TKY4W7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: In July, Liberia discharged its last four cases of Ebola. Medical officials shook hands with the survivors from Margibi County, a rural area outside Monrovia, and handed them certificates, food and supplies. The youngest was nine years old.
    After them there have been no new confirmed cases of the deadly virus in the country.
    In neighbouring Guinea - ground zero for the outbreak that killed more than 11,200 people since it began in December 2013, the World Health Organization said last month that vaccine trials had been 100 percent effective.
    Hopes are high for the end of the deadly scourge of Ebola, but for survivors like Korso Kollie a new battle begins.
    At home, he prepares a meal which he will eat alone. He says he has tried to go on with life as usual but his friends and family are unable to do the same.
    "When I came out I wasn't feeling fine, but what do I do? I just have to put up a brave face for everyone. I have already been criticised that I have Ebola. I felt that when I come back to my community people will accept me as before," he said.
    Liberia was declared Ebola-free on May 9 but reported a new case nearly two months later. The outbreak is still active in Sierra Leone and Guinea.
    Health experts have not yet discovered why Ebola resurfaced in Liberia, although genetic tests on the first case in the new wave of infections show it probably remained latent in the country. Officials think that sexual transmission is the most likely explanation, since the virus can persist in soft tissues of the body such as semen for up to 90 days.
    Moses Aquoi is another Ebola survivor. He ran a successful low cost hotel that earned him up to 100 US dollars in a day.
    When he came back from the Ebola Treatment Unit, some people welcomed him warmly, but others preferred to stay away. He says his business has been the biggest casualty.
    "My neighbour welcome me very well, but I got some friends, who we interacted, we do things in common. But now some times they just come and speak to me and don't shake my hand and keep their distance," he said.
    "Since I came back my business have gone to zero. I can't even get one customer here to come here, because of the stigmatization. No business no nothing... and that is my source of income to help my family," said Aquoi.
    The Ebola virus is spread by the bodily fluids of victims, who bleed, vomit and suffer diarrhoea in its final stages.
    Survivors are believed to have immunity from Ebola thanks to antibodies in their blood.
    Many who recovered joined the fight against the disease, helping care for the sick where there was a shortage of health workers.
    For others it is a struggle to find their way after such a traumatic experience, especially when those around them are still so terrified of the disease.
    Aquoi says he heard about a vaccine and hopes it can help take away the fear for people of Liberia.
    "I feel happy because Ebola is very deadly. It takes you life in second or minute, so when the vaccine come it will be able to help us, because the lives of Liberians have been lost to this deadly disease," he said.
    The success of the Guinea trial is a big relief for researchers, many of whom feared a sharp decline in cases this year would scupper their hopes of proving a vaccine could work.
    Another major trial in Liberia, which had aimed to recruit some 28,000 subjects, had to stop enrolling after only reaching its mid-stage target of 1,500 participants. Plans for testing in Sierra Leone were also scaled back. That left the study in Guinea, where Ebola is still infecting new victims, as the only real hope for demonstrating the efficacy of a vaccine.
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