The Only Problem Ebola Survivors Will Face
Korkor, who narrated his ordeal to FrontPage Africa, said he was only greeted from a distance upon arrival at Cuttington University campus, a private university in Suacoco, Liberia, where he teaches. He said his students were scared that he might still have the deadly virus, a situation that made people to be afraid to touch him.
One of the students, whose name was not given, said: “We want to hug our doctor, but fear we would come in contact with the virus, I will greet him from a distance. I am happy doctor Korkor has returned, but I am totally not convinced he is Ebola-free. I will shake his hands after 21 days.”
Despite checking the deadly virus, local and international authorities are still battling with other measures on how to educate people both on the symptoms of Ebola and on the progress of the disease from the soap bucket challenge (a repurposed version of the ice bucket challenge, which is now trending on Twitter- hashtag #MousserContreEbola) to a hit hip-hop song aimed at educating the public on the symptoms and how the virus can spread or be halted.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization recently shared a video of three survivors who revealed that, they were issued certificates by their doctors to prove they are no longer contagious because of the stigma they were undergoing in their various communities.
One the survivor said: “When I got sick, my family doubted my recovery. Thank God for the doctors. They gave me a certificate that indicates I am free of Ebola in case anyone would still doubt.”
However, West Africa is still looking for lasting solution to completely end the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus that has reportedly infected at least 2,615 people, with 1,427 reportedly dead.
The American doctors who contracted the deadly virus were described as heroes back home while several African survivors are faced with stigma and disdain in their own communities.
Meanwhile, Ebola virus was first recorded in 1976 after an outbreak in Zaire now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where 88 per cent of the 318 people that were infected died. Another outbreak in 1995 also claimed the lives of 81% of the 315 infected people. There are four types of the virus: Ebola-Zaire, Ebola-Sudan and Ebola-Ivory Coast all affect humans, while Ebola-Reston has so far only affected monkeys and chimpanzees. The virus multiplies rapidly in the human body and quickly overwhelms it, and in advanced cases the patient develops high fever and severe bleeding.
