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Sierra Leone finds at least 130 Ebola cases during three-day curfew

 
A man digs graves for Ebola victims as the government in Sierra Leone completes a three-day search for residents infected by the deadly disease. Workers found 130 cases.
A man digs graves for Ebola victims as the government in Sierra Leone completes a three-day search for residents infected by the deadly disease. Workers found 130 cases.
Published Sept. 23, 2014

At least 130 Ebola cases were identified and scores of bodies buried during a three-day curfew in Sierra Leone, the country's health authorities said Monday, calling the controversial effort largely successful.

In one of the most aggressive moves yet to stem the virus spreading through parts of West Africa, Sierra Leone's 6 million people were ordered to stay home round the clock while about 30,000 health care workers and volunteers went door to door to educate about Ebola and find people who might be spreading the deadly disease.

The aim of the campaign was to overcome the fear and distrust that have kept many sick people from reporting symptoms of the virus, which is spread through contact with the bodily fluids of victims.

Humanitarian workers warned that it could have the opposite effect, increasing suspicion of the health authorities and driving the disease underground. But Stephen Gauja, who heads the country's Ebola Emergency Operations Center, told the BBC that the receptiveness in the country was "overwhelming."

More than 1 million households were visited during the curfew, which ended late Sunday, the Health Ministry said.

The full results of the effort won't be announced until today, but Gauja said 130 new cases had been confirmed and results were pending on 39 suspected cases.

Authorities also buried 77 bodies, half of which tested positive for Ebola, Abdulai Bayraytay, a government spokesman, told the Associated Press.

But in at least one case Saturday, residents attacked members of a burial team dressed in biohazard suits, forcing them to abandon five bodies and flee. The team later buried the bodies with the help of a police escort.

This is the first time Ebola has spread to West Africa, where more than 2,800 people are believed to have died of the disease since the outbreak was reported in March, according to figures released by the World Health Organization on Monday. Previous outbreaks were concentrated in Central Africa.

Most of the more than 5,800 suspected and confirmed cases are in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. There have also been reports of cases in Nigeria and Senegal. Sierra Leone accounts for 1,813 cases, including 593 deaths, the WHO said.