Ebola is coming back in Sierra Leone as its Vice President quarantines himself. Yahoo/AFP

An Ebola prevention sign. Yahoo/AFP.

Sierra Leone is seeing a rise in Ebola cases as the Vice President of the country has quarantined himself. Yahoo/AFP. Vice President Sam Sumana has place himself under voluntary quarantine for 21 days after one of his bodyguards died of the disease. Sumana is not yet ill and is at low risk for becoming infected with the disease, so the quarantine is mostly symbolic. However, the increase of cases has the government of Sierra Leone very concerned, so much so that it has renewed travel restrictions. The government had lifted those restrictions in order to spur economic recovery. Restrictions were placed on how many people can travel in taxis and trucks and have also banned any maritime activities at night after several cases were linked to the practice. Unsafe burials of Ebola victims is another factor that is contributing to the rise in cases. The disease has largely been eliminated in neighboring Liberia but has not been controlled in Sierra Leone or Guinea, both of which have seen increases in the number of cases lately after having leveled off at the begging of the year. 

My Comment:

The idea that the Vice President of Sierra Leone is even at risk at this point is very disturbing. You would think if anyone would be able to take precautions against Ebola it would be the bodyguards of one of the most important people in the country. From the context it seems clear that this bodyguard was not infected during an unsafe burial but was exposed in some other way. With Ebola restrictions having been lifted (and now restored) it is very likely that he was exposed in a taxi or some other type of public transportation. It's possible that he was visiting an Ebola victim for personal or professional reasons, but either way it is strange that he would have that kind of contact while his job is to protect the Vice President. 

I thought that the lifting of restrictions in Sierra Leone was a bit premature, and I am glad that they are back in place. Sierra Leone appears to be getting 200 new cases a week, with Guinea getting only slightly fewer cases. In Liberia the numbers seem less clear, but with every source saying they are only getting a few cases per week. The disease is largely under control in Liberia but that is not the case for Sierra Leone and Guinea. Lifting these restrictions before the disease had died out is a major factor why things are going so much better in Liberia then it is in Sierra Leone. 

The really strange thing about this report is that new cases were linked to "maritime activities", whatever those are. The article didn't really define what that means and why it is more dangerous at night. It seems very unlike that new cases are coming from outside of the country, so my guess is that these are fishermen working in close quarters with each other. That could lead to new infections. How banning those ships from returning to the country at night stops Ebola is beyond me. 

As for the outbreak itself, someday it will be over. These new restrictions may finally bring the disease under control. On the other hand, people are still doing the things that spread Ebola, like the unsafe burial practices that have killed so many. The truth is that we dodged a bullet. Had Ebola spread to another major non-African country with poor sanitation practices and crowded conditions (like India for example) we could have had a massive outbreak. That never happened and it seems very unlikely to happen now. Some of that is due to our efforts to combat the disease. Most of it is pure luck. We can't afford to rely on luck when fighting deadly diseases like Ebola. Hopefully, the world has learned some lessons from the Ebola outbreak, when all is said and done.