It’s all over the news.. everywhere. Ebola is the hot topic at the moment. Whether it’s rumours whispered in hushed voices in the local villages or loud announcements across the worlds news theres no escaping it. I would never have thought a year ago that I would ever be in a position where I would need to be designing and implementing an escalation disaster plan in response to a large scale epidemic in West Africa, I can barely believe it now.

As the epidemic rapidly spreads across the country we have put in place an escalation plan at the academy designed to keep the boys and staff safe. Whilst I hope we don't get to a stage where we have confirmed cases on our doorstep it’s important to have a plan in place to instantly respond. Equally our staff need to be reassured that we will put measures in place to ensure their safety for them to keep confidence in order to work here. Whilst most staff members are not risk-adverse Ebola is not something most of us expected to encounter here.

I am also passing on information to the local community and have facilitated several meetings between the head honchos in Tombo, the medical staff at the local clinics and various religious leaders to share information and advice. Thanks to the wonders of the internet and the many contacts I have found here I can now access up to date information on any given day (although more often than not that information is conflicting - see below!) We’ve formulated a plan for the community to follow to make sure everyone receives the right information and the community is able to act accordingly should we ever be in the unfortunate situation to have a suspected case nearby. People seem to be very distrusting of the Government here which is a real shame as, from what I've seen, the govt and authorities are actually issuing good advice that if followed would protect people from Ebola and stop the spread.

The biggest threat for the people of Sierra Leone at the moment is lack of information, or even worse misinformation. Through my research I have come across some astounding claims about ebola - vinegar washes it away, raw onions keep you safe and even that the government is injecting people with Ebola to cull some of the population. Others believe Ebola is simply witchcraft. One things for sure, Ebola is real, Ebola is deadly.

The difficulty for me personally at the moment is that suspected cases, once detected, from around the country are transported to Kenema and Kailahun for testing and are then included in the statistics from Kenema or Kailahun. For example 2 cases were confirmed from Port Loko which is pretty close to us but are now included in the Kenema statistics as the patients were transported there. All of this makes it difficult to get an accurate picture of what is really happening and where cases are being located. I am hopeful that with my new found direct contacts I will be able to get better information going forward.

Latest WHO Update 08 July:

Confirmed - 269
Probable - 34
Suspected - 2
Deaths - 127 
New case number between 03 and 06 July - 34 new cases and 14 deaths

Ministry of Health and Sanitation
Ebola Update July 8, 2014
For the 7th July 2014, a total of 9 samples were received by the Laboratory: Eight (8) samples from Kenema district and one (1) from Bo district. Four (4) of the 9 samples have been confirmed positive for Ebola: three (3) from Kenema and one (1) from Bo. The remaining five sample are all negative
One of the two laboratory pending results yesterday is now negative while 4 samples are still under processing in the laboratory
The cumulative number of Laboratory confirmed cases is 279 whiles confirmed death is 89
Ninety-four(94) cases are currently admitted at the treatment centers, 58 in Kenema and 36 in Kailahun
The cumulative discharged cases is 34
Line listing of contacts and monitoring of case contacts is on-going in districts with confirmed cases
Support has been given to the Paramount Chiefs in Kailahun and Kenema districts to engage their chiefdoms in sensitization, contact tracing and community cooperation