Ebola crisis: Dr Nathalie MacDermott back in Liberia

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-29687310

Version 0 of 1.

A young doctor from Cardiff has returned to west Africa to help fight the spread of Ebola.

Dr Nathalie MacDermott has flown to Liberia to set up community care centres, which will treat people with the disease.

Working for the charity Samaritan's Purse, she said the aim is to reduce transmission.

It is Dr MacDermott's second mission to the country - her first ended in July with three weeks in isolation.

"With very high mortality rates, the best way we can save lives at the moment is by reducing transmission," she said.

"There's also an ongoing denial that Ebola even exists so people don't even want to take their relatives to an Ebola treatment unit because there's a lot of superstitious beliefs about what's happening in the Ebola treatment units."

Dr MacDermott, who normally works at Singleton Hospital in Swansea, hopes if families can see their relatives from behind a fence in the community clinics, their fears will be eased.

She said: "Our site should be ready this week, our staff were training last week and we're about to go back tomorrow to complete training our staff and open our first community care centre.

"Our staff will be going into care for the patients so they will be providing them with oral medications and oral rehydration solution and just helping to clean them and wash them and keep them comfortable.

"Our goal is to isolate people are reduce transmission within communities, but also to keep people comfortable, provide them with symptomatic and supportive care and hope that may be some will survive."