During December 2015, I had the privilege of working in the Public Health England (PHE) Ebola diagnostic laboratories in Port Loko and Makeni, Sierra Leone, where I met and worked with several of the local clinical laboratory staff: Hassan Bangura, Bockarie Koroma and Sorie Kargbo. I had met and worked with Hassan Bangura (picture below)…
Category: ebola
Blog: Medical clinics in Ebola country – a trip with a surveillance team
Over time in Port Loko, I got to know some of the team working at DERC (District Ebola Response Center) that was located near the ETC (Ebola Treatment Center); DERC fell under NERC (http://www.nerc.sl/). DERC coordinated all responses to and surveillance of possible Ebola cases in the Port Loko district. I was offered the possibility…
Sierra Leone – a first visit to Port Loko
Friday morning was the first real working day and I had been allocated to the early shift, which started at 06:00 am. Not a problem on my part, as I am an early bird, but it meant trying to get a few slices of toast and some coffee before getting the bus at 05:30 am….
Sierra Leone – the first few days
I’m not really sure how I decided to go to Sierra Leone, but the seeds were probably planted by an email I received from my lovely wife: “Can I please go to Sierra Leone to work in an Ebola lab?” My response was a simple “yes” – I was happy that she wanted to go,…
