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VOICE OF AMERICA — by Chris Stein and  Prince Collins  June 11, 2015

DAKAR and  MONROVIA --Burial teams undertook some of the most hazardous work in Liberia’s fight against Ebola. With the West African nation now getting relief from the virus, these men and women say societal stigma is keeping them from getting jobs....

Being unemployed is no small thing in Liberia, which was already recovering from nearly two decades of ruinous civil war before Ebola broke out in 2014.

About two-thirds of Liberians live in poverty, according to the World Bank. Sonny Fayon was unemployed when the outbreak started, he found work on a burial team, but now is out of a job again. Even though he never got sick, no one will hire him, he said.

“We’re not very vulnerable to the Ebola business. We’re well-protected, we wore protective clothing to do the job,” Fayon stated. “So they should accept us. I think we were very careful in doing the work.”
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http://www.voanews.com/content/ebola-stigma-keeps-many-from-work-in-liberia/2816932.html

AFP                                                       June 7, 2015

Conakry, Guinea --The only possible place to encounter Ebola in Conakry is the main treatment unit, yet elsewhere in Guinea the virus is thriving in a febrile atmosphere of deep mistrust and swirling conspiracy theory....

It is in Guinea — the original epicentre but least-affected country — where the reaction to the fight against Ebola has been the most suspicious, however, manifesting itself in sporadic bloodshed.

Eight members of an outreach team in the southeastern town of Womey were killed by protesters who denied the existence of Ebola and denounced a “white conspiracy” in September last year.

Violence erupted last week in the country’s western provinces, where there are around 20 confirmed cases, with attacks targeting public institutions, ambulances and even health workers.

These examples of the “reluctance” of locals, to employ the official parlance, are igniting new transmission chains and so hampering efforts to stamp out the virus, say the authorities.

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http://gulfnews.com/news/africa/ebola-spreads-suspicion-and-rumours-in-guinea-1.1531265

CONCORD TIMES  by Samuel Ben Turay                                                                   June 2, 2015

FREETOWN -- Programme Manager, Public Health Division, in the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Mr. Lansana Conteh, has admitted that the public was given wrong methods to stop the spread of the Ebola virus, during the early days of the outbreak.

Conteh said that because the Ebola virus was new in the country they lacked ideas as to how to control its spread after it was first confirmed in Kailahun, eastern Sierra Leone.

He said the ministry got it wrong in many respect, including the method of recruiting burial team members, how to bury the dead, training of staff, involvement of community leaders, and the media, adding that the ministry lacked experts who knew about the disease in the early days.

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http://allafrica.com/stories/201506030682.html

REUTERS                                                                                                    June 2, 2015

DAKAR --Violent protests against Ebola controls in a north Guinea town have prompted the Red Cross to withdraw workers, undermining efforts to stop the spread of Ebola into neighbouring Guinea Bissau.

 The Ebola epidemic was detected in Guinea over a year ago and has since killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa.

 But in a huge relief to officials and aid workers, it has not yet spread to Guinea Bissau, whose health system is deemed vulnerable even by low regional standards.

 Now, a spike in new cases in Guinea's Boke border province combined with violent resistance to efforts to control it there are stoking concerns it could spread.

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http://www.firstpost.com/world/ebola-threat-to-guinea-bissau-rises-as-border-zone-heats-up-reuters-2274104.html