Senegal has defended the closure
of its border with Guinea because of the Ebola outbreak, despite
warnings that such measures are counterproductive.
The World Health Organization says travel bans do not work.
Senegal’s Health Minister Dr Eva Marie Colle Seck told the BBC the travel ban would not affect humanitarian flights, and that the WHO was “learning, like everybody [else]“.
In Liberia, a boy of 16 shot while protesting about a quarantine has died.
Shakie Kamara was one of three people seriously injured on Wednesday after security forces fired at protesters, angry after blockades were erected around the West Point slum.
The current outbreak of Ebola is the most deadly ever, killing at least 1,350 people so far.
Senegal also banned flights and ships from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – the three worst-hit countries – however, Dr Seck said humanitarian flights would not be affected.
Senegal’s capital, Dakar, is a regional hub for West Africa and many doctors and medical supplies arriving from Europe or the US would pass through there before going to the affected countries.
Seck told the BBC that the countries surrounding those affected were a “sentinel for the world” and had a duty to stop the virus spreading further.
But WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl told the BBC’s Newsday programme that the borders in the region were porous, so any ban would be “impossible to enforce”.
Hartl said what was needed was more doctors and officials to help trace those infected with Ebola, and more mobile laboratories.
On Thursday, a Russian transport plane carrying a mobile lab and team of specialist medics such as virologists and epidemiologists flew to Guinea’s capital Conakry. The lab can test more than 100 samples daily.
Senegal first closed its border with Guinea in March when the outbreak started.
It was reopened in May after the situation in Guinea seemed to have stabilised but there has been a recent increase in the number of cases in the country.
Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Kenya and South Africa have also imposed travel bans.
Ebola has no known cure but some affected people have recovered after being given an experimental drug, ZMapp, however, supplies are now exhausted.
On Thursday, two US doctors were discharged from hospital after being given the drug, while three Liberian medics are also recovering well.
The World Health Organization says travel bans do not work.
Senegal’s Health Minister Dr Eva Marie Colle Seck told the BBC the travel ban would not affect humanitarian flights, and that the WHO was “learning, like everybody [else]“.
In Liberia, a boy of 16 shot while protesting about a quarantine has died.
Shakie Kamara was one of three people seriously injured on Wednesday after security forces fired at protesters, angry after blockades were erected around the West Point slum.
The current outbreak of Ebola is the most deadly ever, killing at least 1,350 people so far.
Senegal also banned flights and ships from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – the three worst-hit countries – however, Dr Seck said humanitarian flights would not be affected.
Senegal’s capital, Dakar, is a regional hub for West Africa and many doctors and medical supplies arriving from Europe or the US would pass through there before going to the affected countries.
Seck told the BBC that the countries surrounding those affected were a “sentinel for the world” and had a duty to stop the virus spreading further.
But WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl told the BBC’s Newsday programme that the borders in the region were porous, so any ban would be “impossible to enforce”.
Hartl said what was needed was more doctors and officials to help trace those infected with Ebola, and more mobile laboratories.
On Thursday, a Russian transport plane carrying a mobile lab and team of specialist medics such as virologists and epidemiologists flew to Guinea’s capital Conakry. The lab can test more than 100 samples daily.
Senegal first closed its border with Guinea in March when the outbreak started.
It was reopened in May after the situation in Guinea seemed to have stabilised but there has been a recent increase in the number of cases in the country.
Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Kenya and South Africa have also imposed travel bans.
Ebola has no known cure but some affected people have recovered after being given an experimental drug, ZMapp, however, supplies are now exhausted.
On Thursday, two US doctors were discharged from hospital after being given the drug, while three Liberian medics are also recovering well.
