Ebola Scare: Healthcare Workers to Leave Africa
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Ebola scare: Healthcare workers to leave Africa 31 July 2014 | News | By BioSpectrum Bureau Singapore: With large number of healthcare workers falling prey to the flesh-eating virus, several organizations from global countries are pulling out their workers from the affected West African regions. Ebola is out-of-control in West Africa and has gripped the world in fear of the deadliest outbreak recorded in history. "This is a major epidemic," said Mr Ken Isaacs, vice president of Samaritan's Purse, a US-based medical charity. "People are not giving it the credibility that it deserves," he said. The US Peace Corps said that it was temporarily removing 340 volunteers working in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea after its American staff contracted the deadly virus. Another US citizen and a top doctor from Sierra Leone have died. As Ebola spreads it attack on health staff treating infected patients, global mandates are now fearing to extend help and cure. This underscores the gravity of the evolving crisis in a poor corner of West Africa where government authorities and international health workers have struggled to bring the deadly outbreak under control. Mr Bruce Johnson, president of SIM USA, a Charlotte, NC, missionary group, one of the groups helping Ebola patients in Liberia, said that though non-essential workers will be removed, staff needed to run its Ebola treatment centers will stay. He added that few centers have stopped admitting new patients due to increased spread of the virus. He added that instability and insecurity in African villages add to the misery of Ebola as "healthcare workers do not feel safe." Another organization, Samaritan's Purse said that it was curtailing its operations in Liberia, due to increased threat from locals. Some healthcare workers complained that they have met with resistance from locals who have refused to let them treat loved ones or remove their still infectious dead bodies. As a precautionary measure, many airlines have suspended their flights to the affected regions. .