Dr. Sheik Umar Khan, Photocredit: Reuters
Hannah Goldberg of Time Magazine brings us the sad news that Sierra Leone’s Chief Ebola Doctor Contracts the Deadly Virus.
Sheik Umar Khan, 39, is leading an assault on the virus that the World Health Organization says has already claimed 632 lives—206 in Sierra Leone alone as of July 17.
“Health workers are prone to the disease because we are the first port of call for somebody who is sickened by disease. Even with the full protective clothing you put on, you are at risk,” Khan said in an interview with Reuters, before displaying the illness.
Khan is credited with treating more than 100 Ebola victims, Reuters reports, and is considered a “national hero” by the nation’s health ministry. The doctor has been moved to a treatment facility run by the medical charity Doctors Without Borders, according to a statement released Tuesday from the president’s office.
Although the textbook mortality rate for the Zaire strain of Ebola is 90%, in this particular outbreak the average appears to be 56%, with top quality medical care. Early continuous hydration and antibiotics to control secondary infections greatly improve a patient's chances of survival.
The number of health workers contracting the virus despite taking elaborate precautions is creating morale problems in some areas already overburdened with patients without sufficient health care staffs and facilities.
The doctor becomes the patient! Stockphoto
Also, some of the patients that have survived and recovered from the virus face ostracism and are often shunned by their villages out of fear. The virus apparently can be spread by semen up to seven weeks after it is not detectable in blood tests.
Get well soon Dr. Sheik Umar Khan. Thank you for your compassionate efforts. Please receive our best wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery which we are sending out to you, your loved ones, and all others affected.
You are truly a national and world hero and we need you to get well so you can continue leading this vital effort to contain the spread of this terrible virus.
Where do we find more health care workers with Dr. Khan's courage and compassion? Who will replace him while he hopefully recovers? DWB already lost another top Doctor to Ebola, who volunteered to help coming from Uganda last month. The rest of the world needs to pay more attention and start sending more help before our hero's have have been manning the first line of defense since February, burn out from exhaustion.
2:11 PM PT: And, in the next category of "not quite as heroic as Dr. Khan" Edward Tommey reports. Sierra Leone News : Do Not Scare Tourists Away! Tourism Minister Calls for Responsible and Objective EBOLA Reporting,
The Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs Hon. Peter Bayuku Konteh has on Thursday 17th July, during the Government weekly press briefing hosted in the Ministry of Information and Communications conference room called on journalists to be responsible and objective in the way they report the EBOLA outbreak, as according to him it is scaring, frightening and sending away tourists. He said, in as much as the EBOLA outbreak is scary and detrimental, media practitioners should know the way they do their reporting so as not to send away tourists, adding that, the outbreak is not in anyway helping the country but militating against the growth and developmental initiatives of the country through the government.
He said the tourism sector is one of the most valuable and sustainable sectors in the country which must be in maintained and protected by all Sierra Leoneans. Hon. Konteh furthered that security, health and sanitation and attraction-entertainment are the watch word his ministry thrives on to get tourists into the country.
“Tourism Sector is the most fragile in governance, so it must be cautiously handled so to enable it actualize its mandate by attracting tourists into the country that will contribute to national development”He informed that, from January to June 2013 there were 41, 820 guests who arrived into the country and a total of Thirty Million, One Hundred and Eighty Two Thousand United States Dollars ($30, 182,000) was generated, whilst from January to June 2014, there were 32, 944 guests who arrived in the country and generated the total sum of Twenty-Three Million, Nine Hundred and Forty-Four Thousand United States Dollars ($23, 944,000), which according to him is appalling and does not tell well for the country as there are variances of 8, 876 guests and a deficit of Six Million, Five Hundred and Seventy Nine United States Dollars ($6,000,579).He then called on all to work in the interest of the country.
Also making a statement, Mr. Tony Shallop of Country Lodge said every week there are cancellation of tourists bookings due to the EBOLA outbreak, which he stated is as a result of the way it is been reported by the media. He said Hotel Industries depend on guests.He then called on journalists to have a better way of reporting EBOLA cases so as not to scare away tourists, as the sector greatly contributes to the country’s coffers.
One can gain perspective of the magnitude of the poverty in this region by noticing that the primary drive of the top government minister on this case, is to make a clumsy attempt to manage reporting so as to protect a $6 million dollar deficit in tourism revenue for the year to date. $6 million dollars is such a vast amount that trying to find a way to protect or recovery it is the number one national priority for this Minister.
The WHO has already stopped reporting the numbers of "suspected cases" but now only mentions confirmed cases at the request of government.
The minister did not tell reporters exactly how to "better report Ebola cases so as not to scare away tourists," so perhaps we can help out?
First off, describing Ebola as an incurable and deadly hemorraghic fever with a 90% death rate could certainly be distracting for happy holiday planners. So instead of saying,
"Deadly Ebola Virus Kills Hundreds in Sierra Leone, Overwhelming Medical Facilities, Local Villagers in Panic, Currency in Collapse!"
an example of a more sensitive and helpful headline might be,
"Fun Loving Tourists Enjoy Sierra Leone's Scenic Beauty and Attractions Relatively Unaffected by Local Health Concerns.- falling currency creates exchange rate opportunities for bargain shoppers! "
(Snark alert.)
Can you see what an improvement these subtle kind of changes could make in terms of allaying tourist's concerns? So wake up and smell the coffee lazy journalists. There's going to be a test later and your cooperation, or lack thereof, will be noted in your annual job review. Don't make me come down there! (Humor alert.)
Sorry, for this tasteless tangent of gallows humor, but another aspect of this outbreak that that has not received as much coverage, but I have a dozen excellent article about, is the economic devastation. Tourism, mining, and bush and game meat sales are the leading economic drivers for Sierra Leone and all have been shut down or greatly impacted by the outbreak.
Populations are told not to eat, handle, or sale game meats which can carry the virus, but are not "instructed" as to what they should eat instead. My understanding is that "bush meats" constitute up to 50% of the food sources, in some areas.
