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Peace Corps pulls volunteers from Ebola-stricken areas

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The Peace Corps is temporarily removing volunteers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea because of the increasing spread of Ebola virus.

“The agency has been and will continue to closely monitor the outbreak of the virus in collaboration with leading experts from the CDC and the US Department of State,” Peace Corps officials said in a press release. “The Peace Corps has enjoyed long partnerships with the government and people of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea and is committed to continuing volunteers’ work there. A determination on when volunteers can return will be made at a later date.”

There are currently 102 volunteers in Guinea, 108 volunteers in Liberia and 130 volunteers in Sierra Leone, according to the release, and The Peace Corps has provided guidance to volunteers in adjacent areas to ensure they take the utmost precautions.

The Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian relief organization working in the area, has also announced that it is curtailing operations in Liberia. Non-essential personnel are being evacuated, but medical staff are remaining to treat patients, according to a press release by the organization.

Two Americans, a physician and a missionary working with The Samaritan’s Purse in Liberia, have shown improvement after being infected with Ebola, according to the release, but both remain in serious condition.

According to WHO, 122 new cases of Ebola virus disease and 57 deaths were identified from July 24 to 27, bringing the total case count to 1,323 and 729 deaths. One case was confirmed in Nigeria, in a man who traveled by plane from Liberia to Lagos, with stops in Lomé, Togo, and Accra, Ghana. Fifty-nine contacts from airport staff and the hospital have been identified.

The patient’s samples have not yet been sent to the WHO Collaborating Centre at the Institute Pasteur in Dakar, Senegal, due to refusal by courier companies to transport the sample, according to a WHO report.

“Though only one probable case has been detected so far in Nigeria, Ebola virus infection in this country represents a significant development in the course of this outbreak,” WHO officials said in a Global Alert and Response update. “National authorities in Ghana, Nigeria and Togo continue to work closely with WHO and its partners in identification of contacts and contact tracing as well as in preparing response plans.”