UK Grad Tracking Ebola In Liberia
"There’s always a tendency in the back of your mind that something could go wrong," said Dr. Mosoka Fallah.
It’s that mentality the University of Kentucky graduate takes with him each day as a leader of the fight against Ebola in Liberia.
Dr. Fallah works in Liberia’s slums. His work with neighborhood leaders helps track sick cases and keep, even the poor connected with government officials.
"There is always fear because there are a lot of healthcare workers that are infected everyday," said Dr. Fallah.
Those fears are receding, if only slightly. Thursday brought news Liberia’s state of emergency declared in August, wouldn’t be continued.
"We can breathe some air of relief. Some of the stress and tension was ongoing sometime in August, September has not reduced, especially in Liberia," said Dr. Fallah.
And on American soil, the CDC used decades of Ebola research to reassure an outbreak wouldn’t happen.
"But from everything we’ve seen, we do not think a large outbreak is at all likely in this country. It’s just not how Ebola has spread, either here, or in Africa, to date," said Tom Frieden, CDC Director.
Still, Dr. Fallah cautioned against shrugging the disease off, especially in terms of curfews set during the state of emergency in Liberia.
"We need to extend it a little bit more than a month because we still have to intensify the fight, we have to have people in the right frame of mind."
The New York Times wrote an article about Dr. Fallah and his role in the fight against Ebola. You can find that here: http://nyti.ms/1BkWYvj.
(Some still images used in this story are courtesy of The New York Times)
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