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Ebola outbreak: Sierra Leone workers dump bodies in Kenema | Ebola outbreak: Sierra Leone workers dump bodies in Kenema |
(about 2 hours later) | |
Burial workers in the Sierra Leonean city of Kenema have dumped bodies in public in protest at non-payment of allowances for handling Ebola victims. | Burial workers in the Sierra Leonean city of Kenema have dumped bodies in public in protest at non-payment of allowances for handling Ebola victims. |
The workers, who have gone on strike over the issue, left 15 bodies abandoned at the city's main hospital. | The workers, who have gone on strike over the issue, left 15 bodies abandoned at the city's main hospital. |
One of the bodies was reportedly left by the hospital manager's office and two others by the hospital entrance. | One of the bodies was reportedly left by the hospital manager's office and two others by the hospital entrance. |
Sierra Leone is one of the countries worst affected by this year's Ebola outbreak, with more than 1,200 deaths. | Sierra Leone is one of the countries worst affected by this year's Ebola outbreak, with more than 1,200 deaths. |
Kenema is the third largest city in Sierra Leone and the biggest in the east, where the Ebola outbreak first emerged in the country. | Kenema is the third largest city in Sierra Leone and the biggest in the east, where the Ebola outbreak first emerged in the country. |
The burial workers told a BBC reporter they had not been paid agreed extra risk allowances for October and November. | |
The BBC's Umaru Fofana in Freetown says the bodies have now been taken away but the workers remain on strike. | The BBC's Umaru Fofana in Freetown says the bodies have now been taken away but the workers remain on strike. |
There has been no immediate comment by the hospital's management or the Sierra Leonean health ministry. | There has been no immediate comment by the hospital's management or the Sierra Leonean health ministry. |
Danger after death | |
The burial workers' industrial action comes two weeks after health workers went on strike for similar reasons at a clinic near Bo - the only facility in southern Sierra Leone treating Ebola victims. | The burial workers' industrial action comes two weeks after health workers went on strike for similar reasons at a clinic near Bo - the only facility in southern Sierra Leone treating Ebola victims. |
Ebola has killed more than 5,000 people in West Africa this year, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. | Ebola has killed more than 5,000 people in West Africa this year, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. |
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak a global health emergency. | The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak a global health emergency. |
People are infected when they have direct contact through broken skin, or the mouth and nose, with the blood, vomit, faeces or bodily fluids of someone with Ebola. | |
The virus can be present in urine and semen too. | |
Infection may also occur through direct contact with contaminated bedding, clothing and surfaces - but only through broken skin. | |
The virus is still dangerous and present in the body after death. Burial workers are at risk of infection and commonly wear protective clothing and take other precautions. | |
Health professionals say those who have died from Ebola should be buried promptly to lessen the risks of infection spreading. |