How Liberia Is Starting To Beat Ebola, With Fingers Crossed
If you want the inside scoop about what's happening with the Ebola outbreak, then just hang out at the Mamba Point Hotel in Monrovia.
It's packed with scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, international reporters and a bunch of guys and gals in camouflage from the U.S. Army.
They all like to hang out at the bar during lunchtime. That's where I met Joel Montgomery, a top epidemiologist at the CDC. We head off to a quiet room, and he starts telling me about all of his trips to Monrovia.
"When I was here in August, not to sound like, making this too colorful but, I mean there were ... literally dead people on the streets," Montgomery says. "And the burial teams were picking up 50 to 60 bodies a day."
At that point, the country had been on a devastating path. Clinics were stretched way past capacity. And even getting an Ebola test could take days, or weeks if you lived in the jungle. Samples had to be sent by a series of canoes and motorcycles to the only lab in the country.
The epidemic was doubling every few weeks. Some computational biologists were predicting more than 20,000 cases by the end of October.
Let's beat Ebola! Since August, the nonprofit More Than Me switched its focus from educating girls to getting Ebola out of the West Point neighborhood. Krubo is a social worker with the group who helps teach people about Ebola.
But officials are seeing a very different situation on the ground now. The country has had about 6,500 cases. New cases are on a decline, dropping off by about a 100 a week, on average, since early October.
Liberia has also beefed up its ability to deal with the virus. The country has quadrupled its diagnostic labs. And hundreds of new beds have been added in Ebola clinics.
"It does feel much better than it did in August, I've got to tell you," Montgomery says. "The pulse, you know? The people on the street. It just feels different. It feels more controlled now than it did."
So has the tide turned?
"It's too early to say," Montgomery says. "Because as soon as you say that, you're going to be wrong."
The country is still reporting a large number of cases. And the virus is still popping up in new parts of the country, Montgomery notes.
But there's another positive sign that doesn't get much attention, he says: Liberians are taking the matter into their own hands.
"I think a lot communities are now starting to get it and figure out how they can limit spread, prevent infection and prevent transmission," he says, "because this is not ... rocket science."
That same day, at that same bar, I heard about a woman in Monrovia helping with a grass-roots campaign in West Point, one of the city's poorest neighborhoods.
The project sounded awesome. So I emailed Katie Meyler the day after I returned to the States. She called me on her cellphone from a market near West Point.
"Nobody would want to eradicate Ebola from their own neighborhood more than those who live in the neighborhood," Meyler says. "The mothers, fathers and neighbors and sisters, who want to protect their own children and protect their own families."
Meyler is the founder of More Than Me, a small nonprofit that runs a free school for girls in West Point. The school had to close when Ebola came. So Meyler knew she needed to turn her attention to getting the virus out of West Point.
A few months ago, she says, leaders in West Point banded together and built their own Ebola task force.
"They started going door to door to door, first with information about what Ebola is and how to keep yourself safe," Meyler says.
Then the team started training people to be nurses, so the team could actively look for Ebola cases in West Point. When the nurses find someone sick with what looks like Ebola, the team calls an ambulance and gets the person out of the community. All this hasn't cost much money, Meyler says.
"These guys just need boots because they're like going door to door in flip-flops looking for sick people," she says. "They need transportation to get the sick out as soon as possible. It doesn't have to be a billion-dollar ambulance."
The shoestring operation is working well. Cases in West Point have dropped. And the government wants to expand the project to five other neighborhoods in Monrovia.
"The way to reduce the cases," Meyler says, "is to listen to people who live in the community."
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Transcript
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
This hour starts with some positive news about the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. In at least one of the countries hard-hit by the disease the epidemic shows signs of slowing. Liberia has had about 6,500 cases. But now new cases are on a decline, dropping by about 100 a week. NPR's Michaeleen Doucleff just returned from Liberia and has this report on how the country is starting to beat Ebola.
MICHAELEEN DOUCLEFF, BYLINE: If you want the inside scoop about what's happening with the outbreak then just hang out at the Mamba Point Hotel in Monrovia. It's packed with scientists from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, international reporters and a bunch of guys and gals in camo from the U.S. Army. They all like to hang out at the bar during lunchtime. And that's where I met Joel Montgomery, a top epidemiologist at the CDC. We head off to a quiet side room, and he starts telling me about all his trips to Monrovia.
JOEL MONTGOMERY: When I was here again in August, not to sound like, you know, making this too colorful, but there were - I mean, there were literally dead people on the streets. And the burial teams were picking up, you know, 50, 60 bodies a day.
DOUCLEFF: At that point, the epidemic was doubling every few weeks. Clinics were stretched way past capacity. And even getting an Ebola test could take days or weeks if you lived in the jungle. Samples had to be sent by a series of canoes and motorcycles to the only lab in the country. Now, Liberia has more diagnostic labs, as well as many more beds and clinics. There are still a lot of new cases.
MONTGOMERY: But it does feel much better than it did in August, I got to tell you. The pulse, you know, the people on the street - it just feels different. I mean, it feels more controlled now than it did.
DOUCLEFF: Since early October, the number of new cases has declined. And across Liberia, only about half of all beds in Ebola clinics are filled. The virus is still popping up in new parts of the country, so Montgomery doesn't want to say the tide has turned.
MONTGOMERY: It's too early. I mean, it's too early to say. Because as soon as you say that, you're going to be wrong.
DOUCLEFF: There's another positive sign that isn't getting much attention - Liberians banding together to get Ebola out of their neighborhoods.
That same day, at that same bar, I heard about a woman in Monrovia helping with a grassroots campaign in West Point, one of the city's poorest neighborhoods. The project sounded awesome, so I e-mailed Katie Meyler the day after I returned to the States. She called me on her cellphone at a market near West Point.
KATIE MEYLER: Nobody would want to eradicate Ebola from their own neighborhood more than those who live in their neighborhood - I mean, the mothers and fathers and neighbors and sisters who want to protect their own children and protect their own families.
DOUCLEFF: Meyler is the founder of More Than Me. It's a tiny school in West Point that gives girls a free education. The school had to close when Ebola came, so Meyler knew she needed to turn her attention to getting the virus out of West Point. A few months ago, she says local leaders in West Point banded together and built their own Ebola task force.
MEYLER: They started going door to door to door to door, first with information about what Ebola is and how to keep yourself safe.
DOUCLEFF: Then the team started training people to be nurses and actively looking for Ebola cases in West Point. When they find someone sick, they call an ambulance and get that person out of the community. Meyler says all this hasn't cost much money.
MEYLER: These guys just need boots 'cause they're like going door to door in flip-flops looking for sick people. And they need transportation to get the sick out as soon as possible. And it doesn't have to be a billion-dollar ambulance.
DOUCLEFF: The shoestring operation is working well. Cases in West Point have dropped. And the government wants to expand the project to five other neighborhoods in Monrovia.
MEYLER: The way to reduce the cases is to listen to the people who live in the community.
DOUCLEFF: She says if the world wants to stop this outbreak it should rely more on the people fighting for their own lives. Michaeleen Doucleff, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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