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| Ebola outbreak: UK firm London Mining evacuates staff | Ebola outbreak: UK firm London Mining evacuates staff |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A British firm has evacuated "non-essential" personnel from Sierra Leone following an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus. | A British firm has evacuated "non-essential" personnel from Sierra Leone following an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus. |
| London Mining is the first company to go public on such move. | London Mining is the first company to go public on such move. |
| The company had said it was working with local and international agencies to monitor the situation but production at its Marampa mine was not affected. | |
| The incurable and highly contagious disease was reported in the west African country last week. | The incurable and highly contagious disease was reported in the west African country last week. |
| There are already there about 50 suspected cases in Sierra Leone and five people have died, and there have been more than 100 deaths in neighbouring Guinea where the outbreak started. | |
| Iron ore company London Mining said it had evacuated what it called non-essential expatriate staff and was carefully monitoring the health of all of its employees. | |
| Ebola first emerged in central Africa 20 years ago, causing fever and internal bleeding. It is spread when people come into contact with the bodily fluids of infected patients. | |
| The Sierra Leone government, with help from aid agencies, is doing what it can to isolate known cases. | |
| But late last week the families of several infected patients went to a rural clinic and forcibly removed their relatives. | |
| BBC international development correspondent Mark Doyle says the families apparently wanted to have their loved ones treated by traditional African healers, and this action is bound to have spread the disease further. | |
| London Mining said in a statement on Monday: "London Mining notes recent reports from Sierra Leone suggesting that an increased number of incidents of Ebola fever have been found in the country. | |
| "The company is not aware of any incidences of the disease among its workforce or in the communities surrounding the Marampa mine. | |
| "However, London Mining is regularly monitoring the situation with Sierra Leone's Ministry of Health and Sanitation, the World Health Organisation and other international agencies. | |
| It added: "Following consultation with the relevant authorities, the company has imposed restrictions on travel in the region and continues to work with employees to promote awareness of the disease, including the provision of information on how it is transmitted and the signs and symptoms. | |
| "A number of non-essential personnel have left the country due to voluntary restrictions on non-essential travel. | |
| "London Mining has also established proactive health monitoring of the workforce, including working with trained personnel to screen all staff and visitors entering our sites, and has ensured the Marampa facility has the appropriate medication and equipment to manage any potential occurrences of the disease. | |
| "Production at Marampa is not currently affected". |