Armageddon Scenarios

Workers Warn Ebola in Sierra Leone Is ‘Spreading Nine Times Faster Than Two Months Ago’

Virus is spreading nine times faster than two months ago in rural areas.Spreading six times faster than two months ago in the capital Freetown.

Contributing Author

Published on

November 4, 2014

Cases of Ebola in Sierra Leone are still rising quickly, campaigners have warned. In rural parts of the country, the virus is spreading nine times faster than two months ago, a report from the Africa Governance Initiative (AGI) found. AGI – an organization set up by former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair – said rates are also increasing in the capital Freetown, with six times more new cases recorded per day than two months ago.

The news comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) advised that the number of new cases of the disease is leveling off. Nick Thompson, AGI’s chief executive, told BBC news: ‘What we’re seeing is a varied picture across the country. There are areas where it’s still going up quite dramatically. ‘Particularly in the western area, the rural areas, the area around and behind Freetown on the western peninsula.

‘That’s where you’re seeing quite dramatic rises in cases, up to nine times more per day than two months ago. ‘It’s a very mixed picture; it’s a changing situation within and across the country. It’s still very much an acute crisis, there’s no room for complacency even if the response steps up.’

The spread of the disease has only started to slow down in one area of Sierra Leone: Bombali, in the country’s north, the report said.