CRI听力:Chinese in Ebola-plagued Sierra Leone in Good Condition

A Chinese embassy official in Sierra Leone says Chinese citizens in the country are in good condition, despite the death toll from the virus surpassing over 250 in the West African nation.

CRI's Luo Laiming has more.

Reporter:
Zou Xiaoming, the Chinese Commercial Counselor in Sierra Leone, says the situation in the capital Freetown is relatively calm, despite the Ebola outbreak.

"There are only 12 reported Ebola cases in the capital. This is not so serious given that the city has around 2 million people. Most of the patients in the capital are residents who traveled from other cities. "

There are over 13-hundred Chinese nationals living in Sierra Leone, with around a thousand of them living in Freetown.

None of the Chinese medical workers who have been quarantined after treating Ebola patients have shown any signs of Ebola exposure.

A second batch of Chinese medical supplies, worth some 10 million yuan, has also arrived in the country this week to help local doctors cope with the Ebola outbreak.

Zou also notes China sent in aid supplies earlier this year, even before Sierra Leone requested help.

"On May 13th, 1 million yuan worth of aid supplies reached Sierra Leone. It was the first batch. On the 15th, it was handed over to the Sierra Leone government. And just a day after that, the country reported its first confirmed Ebola case. So our supplies arrived in the country even before the first case was confirmed. "

Aside from Sierra Leone, China has also delivered medical supplies to Guinea and Liberia, which are all at the center of the current outbreak.

As part of the international effort to contain the outbreak, a consignment of experimental Ebola drugs sent from the U.S. has now arrived in Liberia.

The drugs will be used to treat two Liberian doctors suffering from the virus.

But Liberian officials are warning the drug is not the answer to the Ebola crisis.

Tolbert Nyenswah is the country's assistant health minister.

"For me, this is not the answer, it's just a matter of trial. We need to continue our contact tracing, our surveillance system, we need to continue the health promotion, we need to continue the mechanism that will break transmission so that we eradicate this disease. By giving this drug, it is not the answer."

The Canadian government is also promising to donate some of its untested Ebola vaccine to the World Health Organization.

The WHO, echoing the Liberian government, says preventive public health measures are still the most critical element to bringing the Ebola outbreak to an end.

As the virus continues to spread, Africa's most populous country, Nigeria, has reported a third Ebola-related death this week.

At the same time, the Kenyan government is also beefing up its surveillance at its major airports and along its border.

The WHO is classifying Kenya as a "high-risk" country, as it is a major transportation hub for Africa.

So far, this current Ebola virus has claimed over a thousand lives.

For CRI, I'm Luo Laiming.