The World Health Organization reports 5,335 cases of Ebola. Half of its victims have died on its tear through five West African nations. At its epicenter — in Liberia’s capital of Monrovia — the More Than Me foundation is running a school for girls, taking them from life on the streets following 14 years of civil war. It was founded by Bernardsville’s Katie Meyler. Her international staff was evacuated in August as Ebola spread. She got special permission to reenter the quarantined area in Monrovia. She’s there now working with the Ministry of Health, UNICEF and Doctors Without Borders. She told NJTV News Anchor Mary Alice Williams that the outbreak of Ebola continues to grow exponentially and that fast action is needed to control the spread of the disease.
Meyler said she felt compelled to return to Liberia because she wanted to help people she has worked with for years. “I’ve been working and living in Liberia for nine years and my heart is here,” she said. “Actually one of the photos that the media covered had a picture of one of my girls in it and I was like I can’t sit here at home knowing that I can do something.”
Currently Meyler is working in West Point, the equivalent of a city ward in Monrovia. She said her group is coordinating efforts of different organizations working there. “We have an awareness team, we have a team that specifically checks on our girls three times a week, checking their temperatures, making sure that they have everything they need and that they understand what to do if someone were to get sick,” she said.
Meyler said the group also has an ambulance that the community is running, though there’s currently nowhere to take sick patients because all the treatment units are full. Today, she said, they started home health care, led by the organization’s nurse.
According to Meyler, the Ebola outbreak continues. “It’s growing. You have 10 people sick the one day. The next day it’s 30. Then it’s 60. It’s just growing at exponential rates,” she said.
She also added that while the World Health Organization has statistics on the outbreak, it’s difficult to know how reliable the data is.
“People die and it’s hard to be able to tell if it was Ebola or not. They’re not all being tested… Or the test results aren’t coming back to the community. So to know if people are dying of Ebola or dying because of the regular health system failing, they’re not able to get the attention that they need, it’s hard to determine,” Meyler said. “But it’s definitely not under control.”
Meyler said to stop the spread of the deadly disease, fast action is necessary.
“We’re all excited for Obama’s promise and what the United States has pledged to do, but the reality is every single day this thing is getting worse and getting more out of control so we need people to act fast,” she said.