A decade later, Liberians remember those who died in Ebola outbreak
Liberians are gathering to mark a decade since the country was hit by a devastating Ebola outbreak that killed more than 10,000 people in West Africa, adding to the region’s economic and political troubles
MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Liberians gathered this week to mark a decade since the country was hit by a devastating Ebola outbreak that killed more than 10,000 people in West Africa, adding to the region’s economic and political troubles.
The second Wednesday of March in Liberia, National Decoration Day, is always one of remembrance and people gathered this year at a memorial site where many victims of the virus were buried outside the capital, Monrovia, to pay their respects to family and friends. It was a grim milestone for those who lost loved ones to the virus, even though cultural stigma leads many to insist they died of other causes.
The Ebola outbreak killed some 11,000 people mainly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, according to the United Nations. Liberia was declared free of the virus in 2016, after almost 5,000 deaths.
Many Liberians who lost loved ones during the outbreak deny the virus was to blame. Stigma and fear of the disease remain widespread in the population that survived.
