Dr. Gabriel Fitzpatrick:

The Lagos question seems to be the most pressing. I completely agree. Lagos is a city teeming with a phenomenal number of people, and with ebola cases confirmed in Nigeria, there is significant potential for spread. While governments can cover up information to a certain extent, if ebola were spreading rapidly through Nigeria, as it is through Liberia, we would know about it through social media and other sources. However, we are not seeing it. I am not saying the cases reported in Nigeria are all the cases there are, as we do not know. However, a situation like that in Liberia is not happening in Nigeria. While I worked in Sierra Leone I had a mobile phone from the local telephone company, and approximately twice a day I received a message telling me to watch out for ebola. The government is using mobile technology to send health promotion messages about ebola. How effective it is is another question.

In mid-August there was a lock-down in Sierra Leone and I was there for that. The only effect we saw was a dip in cases for two to three days after the lock-down, followed by a spike in cases seven to ten days after the lock-down. This fits in with the typical incubation period of ebola, which is approximately seven to ten days, and up to a maximum of 21 days. Most NGOs would agree that the quarantine that is being effected in those areas is of no use whatsoever and spreads fear among the local population.

There will always be members of any community who, when they see a lot of foreigners arrive in 4X4 vehicles and the new disease arrive at approximately the same time, will ask whether these people are bringing it. MSF has hundreds of health promotion workers in eastern Sierra Leone and we are trying our best to get the message out that NGOs are not bringing ebola in and to get the basic knowledge of ebola into the community. I have never felt any fear working in that area of Sierra Leone, and I have travelled widely through very remote jungles and have met only very welcoming people who are happy to receive support.