- published: 06 Sep 2014
- views: 249
Sierra Leone declares Ebola lockdown Sierra Leone - one of the countries worst hit by West Africa's Ebola outbreak - has announced a four-day lockdown to try to tackle the disease. From 18 to 21 September people will not be allowed to leave their homes, a senior official said. The aim of the move is to allow health workers to isolate new cases to prevent the disease from spreading further. The outbreak has killed about 2,100 people in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria in recent months. The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Friday that health workers could be given vaccines as from November, when safety tests are completed. More than 20 health workers have lost their lives to the virus in Sierra Leone since the start of the outbreak in March. Last month Liberia sealed off a large slum in the capital, Monrovia, for more than a week in an attempt to contain the virus. The disease infects humans through close contact with infected animals, including chimpanzees, fruit bats and forest antelope. It then spreads between humans by direct contact with infected blood, bodily fluids or organs, or indirectly through contact with contaminated environments. Even though the country's security forces have already been deployed to quarantine certain areas, it remains unclear how such a countrywide lockdown can be enforced, the BBC's West Africa correspondent Thomas Fessy reports from Senegal. The population's willingness to obey will be key for it to succeed - a forcible implementation is likely to raise human rights issues and could potentially spark violent demonstrations, our correspondent adds. A presidential adviser described the measure as aggressive but argued that it was necessary to deal with the spread of EbolaMeanwhile, officials in Nigeria have decided to reopen schools in the country from 22 September. They were closed as a precaution to prevent the spread of the virus. On Friday, the WHO announced that the blood of patients who recovered from Ebola should be used to treat others. People produce antibodies in the blood in an attempt to fight off an Ebola infection. The antibodies may be able to help a sick patient's immune system if they are transferred. However, large scale data on the effectiveness of the therapy is lacking.. For more Latest and Breaking News Headlines SUBSCRIBE to https://www.youtube.com/user/BBCBreakingNews100 TAGS abc breaking news, bbc, bbc football, bbc iplayer, bbc news, bbc news america, bbc persian, bbc sport, bbc weather, bbc world news, breaking celebrity news, breaking election news, breaking late news, breaking local news, breaking music news, breaking news, breaking news alerts, breaking news canada, breaking news headlines, breaking news in atlanta, breaking news in nigeria, breaking news india, breaking news pensacola florida, breaking news plane crash, breaking news story, breaking sports news, business expensive news home media world, christian world news, cnn, cnn breaking news, cnn money, cnn news, cnn news breaking news, cnn news world, detroit breaking news, global news, headline, headline news, health care technology news, hot latest global news, internet technology news, las vegas breaking news, latest breaking news, latest celebrity news, latest information technology news, latest music news, latest news, latest news headlines, latest news update, latest sports news, live breaking news, local breaking news, local news today, msn breaking news, nbc breaking news, nbc world news, news of the world, news report us world, news today news, news updated daily, solar technology news, sports news today, technology news, the latest news, today news, us news and world, us news and world report, us news and world report magazine, us news and world report web site, us news world report, world news, world news daily, world news headlines