Dogs Now digging up graves and eating Dead Bodies Of Ebola Victims in Liberia
The Unhived Mind
Report: Dogs Eating Dead Bodies Of Ebola Victims On Liberian Streets
August 27, 2014 11:55 AM
http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2014/08/27/report-dogs-eating-dead-bodies-of-ebola-victims-on-liberian-streets/
ATLANTA (CBS Atlanta/AP) — Dogs in one community in Liberia are reportedly eating the remains of dead Ebola victims lying on the streets.
The New Dawn reports that the Liberian government buried bodies of those suspected to have died from Ebola a few weeks ago in Johnsonville Township, outside of Monrovia. A number of dogs were reportedly seen pulling the bodies out of the graves and eating the remains.
Alfred Wiah tells The New Dawn that the government’s Health Ministry was called about the incident but that officials did not do anything about it.
“We are very disappointed in the Health Ministry, especially the government that took an oath to defend and protect us. To see them act in such manner is unacceptable and we’ll never allow the government come to bury any longer,” Wiah told The New Dawn. “They will be resisted by us because I think the government has failed to protect us. Why bring Ebola bodies and not bury them well?”
Dr. Stephen Korsman of the University of Cape Town’s medical virology division tells News 24 that dogs can be infected with the Ebola virus but that “infections appear to be asymptomatic.”
“This means that dogs won’t get sick, but they still could carry a potential risk through licking or biting,” Korsman explained to News 24.
Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is scheduled to visit Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea next week.
A CDC spokesman Friday said Frieden wants to meet the African and international health leaders trying to control the outbreak, and to hear what help they need. He also plans to visit hospitals treating Ebola patients.
The Atlanta-based CDC has sent nearly 70 scientists and staff to help in those three countries, as well as Nigeria.
More than 1,400 people have died so far in the largest Ebola outbreak on record.
theunhivedmind says:
We investigated the potential involvement of domestic dogs in the occurrence or dissemination of Ebola virus hemorrhagic fever in humans. Based on a large serologic survey of dogs in the 2001–2002 Ebola outbreak area in Gabon, we found evidence that dogs can be infected by Ebola virus, a finding that raises important human health issues.
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/11/3/pdfs/04-0981.pdf