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05/17/2024 08:08:37 am

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Liberian Ebola Patients Who Escaped From Treatment Center Have Been Found

Liberian Soldiers Monitor Border

(Photo : Reuters)

Liberian Ebola patients who escaped during a mob raid Saturday morning have been found as the death toll reaches a record-high after topping 1,200 deaths as of Tuesday.

Police had to wait for protective gear before being deployed Monday to retrieve at least 30 Ebola patients who had escaped during a raid in West Point, Liberia.

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Residents in West Point ransacked a school converted into an Ebola treatment facility, stole bloodstained beddings and Ebola virus-contaminated equipment such as masks and goggles, while a total of 37 patients fled the area.

Since Monday, all of the remaining missing patients have been accounted for although threats of the epidemic further spreading have surfaced in the aftermath.

Meanwhile, reports on why Liberians risk catching the disease by handling contaminated paraphernalia have been linked to conspiracy theories. It has been reported that some residents in West Point believe the Liberian government is trying to wipe them out by planting an outbreak scare to frighten them.

Allegedly, during the raid locals were heard telling patients that they didn't have Ebola, but rather were sick with malaria.

Horror-struck residents feared for their loved ones' lives as well as their own after seeing that even police officers had fled the area.

West Point has been known as the 'worst slum in Liberia' because of its dense population. The highly populated close quarters have raised concerns that an Ebola outbreak would be particularly difficult to contain.

During Monday's celebration of World Humanitarian Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted their concerns for the medical workers who were harassed and threatened by the raiders.

"Doctors, nurses and other health workers must be allowed to carry out their life-saving humanitarian work free of threat of violence and insecurity," WHO Director General Margaret Chan declared.

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