Huge concern over Ebola resurgence in Liberia

(Vatican Radio)  Sister Barbara Brillant is the head of the National Catholic Health Council  in Liberia and said people there have to recognize that they will never be able to totally eradicate Ebola and so need to learn to live with the fact that cases may still pop up from time to time.  An American missionary who has lived in Liberia for decades, Sister Brillant says people there are rightly extremely concerned about the resurgence of Ebola over the past weeks. She blames the resurfacing of the deadly disease on too much complacency after the nation was declared Ebola-free in early May. She spoke to Susy Hodges.

Listen to the interview with Sister Barbara Brillant: 

Liberians are rightly “extremely concerned” about the recent new Ebola cases in the West African Nation said Sister Brillant.  Despite this concern, she said the government was doing an “excellent job” and expressed “full confidence” in their ability to bring the Ebola situation under control. 

Rather than mistrust against the authorities, Sister Brillant blamed “complacency” among the population for the resurfacing of Ebola.  “We let our guard down”, she said.

More than 5,000 children in Liberia have been left orphans because their parents died from Ebola and the stigma facing them and adult survivors of the disease “is huge” and “our biggest challenge”, according to Sister Brillant.

She said this stigma against survivors is “extremely strong” with many people “very fearful” of having any contact with them. When it comes to the children orphaned by the Ebola epidemic, Sister Brillant said the Catholic Church in Liberia is helping to care for and provide financial support for 1,000 of those Ebola orphans.

Looking ahead to the future, Sister Brillant said people living in Liberia and the other Ebola- affected nations need to be realistic about the possibility of ever managing to totally eradicate the deadly disease.  “We need to learn to live with the fact that Ebola may show its face now and again and that cases may pop up.”  …. I don’t think that we will ever be totally rid of it and it’s something we have to learn to live with.”