Liberia’s chief medical officer puts herself in Ebola quarantine

Liberia’s chief medical officer is placing herself under quarantine for 21 days after her office assistant died of Ebola. Bernice Dahn, a deputy health minister who has represented Liberia at regional conferences about combating the epidemic, said she did not have any Ebola symptoms but wanted to ensure she was not infected. The World Health Organization says 21 days is the maximum incubation period for Ebola, which has killed more than 3,000 people across West Africa and is hitting Liberia especially hard.

I did it on my own. I told my office staff to stay at home for the 21 days. That’s what we need to do.

Bernice Dahn

Of the four west African nations affected by the Ebola outbreak, Liberia has been hit the hardest, with 3,458 people infected, and 1,830 of killed by the disease, acording to a World Health Organization count released Saturday. Healthcare workers, already in very short supply, have paid an especially heavy price, with 211 dead in the stricken nations, 89 of them in Liberia. In Monrovia, “about 50 bodies are incinerated each day – though we estimate that 20 to 30 percent of those did not have Ebola,” a WHO official who requested anonymity said, suggesting an Ebola toll of 35 to 40 victims each day in the Liberian capital.

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