The lethal Ebola virus is spreading rapidly in Western Sierra Leone, and more than 20 people are dying per day as a result.
Claude Kamanda, a member of parliament who represents a western district in Sierra Leone, told local newspaper Politico that people are contracting the virus and dying at a rapid rate.
He said more than 20 deaths are being reported daily, and authorities are “experiencing challenges in terms of collecting corpses from both quarantined and non-quarantined homes,” reported Politico on October 21.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that more Ebola labs are needed in Sierra Leone, the local newspaper also reported that day.
According to the National Ebola Response Center (NERC), 49 cases of the deadly virus were confirmed on Monday alone in two zones in and around Freetown, the Sierra Leone capital.
At least 851 total cases of Ebola have been confirmed in Western Sierra Leone, and at least 1,012 in the eastern part of the country, the former nexus of the nation’s outbreak.
Edward Senesie, a western area police inspector, said people were leaving quarantined homes because they did not have food, Politico also reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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