Two die in Sierra Leone riot sparked by Ebola tests

[Bosonic]

Source: AFP

Freetown (AFP) - Two people died in a riot in Sierra Leone sparked when health workers struggling to contain the Ebola epidemic tried to take a blood sample from an elderly woman, doctors told AFP on Wednesday.

A machete-wielding mob clashed with security personnel in the eastern town of Koidu and then went on a rampage on Tuesday, after preventing a medical team from taking the blood from the 90-year-old mother of a youth leader, doctors from the local government hospital said.

The woman, who had been suspected to be infected with Ebola, had died and was thought to have high blood pressure.

Sierra Leone is one of three west African nations hardest hit by the deadly Ebola epidemic, the world's worst ever.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/two-die-sierra-leone-riot-sparked-ebola-blood-112629389.html

[seveneyes]

1. A machete-wielding mob clashed with security personnel

These types of actions help clarify why Ebola spreads so quickly in such environments.

[karynnj]

2. Ignoring for a moment the main serious issue here, a 90 yr old mother of a youth leader????

Otherwise, this is a terribly sad story of the conflict between cultural values on treatment of the dead and the need to know who was infected to intelligently try to contain ebola. Other articles - concentrating on neighboring Liberia - spoke of how some burial/funeral traditions were spreading the disease. They really need someone from their culture to lead them to some understanding of what the medical community is doing and that it is to help them.