Sierra Leone, Liberia brace for new Ebola cases
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — Two of the West African nations hardest hit by Ebola were bracing for new caseloads on today after trying to outflank the outbreak with a nationwide checkup and a large new clinic.
Sierra Leone was expected to announce a sharp increase in Ebola patients Tuesday after a nationwide effort to identify new cases, while Liberia opened its largest treatment center yet.
Both countries have poor health systems, weakened by the loss to Ebola of many of doctors and nurses. The World Health Organization estimated last week that they have only about 20 percent of the beds they need to treat Ebola patients.
Still, identifying the sick is fundamental to containing the disease, and Sierra Leone went to an extreme unseen since the plague ravaged Europe during the Middle Ages, ordering an entire nation's people to remain at home while teams went door to door handing out soap and information.
More than 1 million households were checked for Ebola and told how to prevent its spread, authorities said.