Ebola: Liberian Nurses Go On Strike Over Pay, Equipment

Nurses at Liberia's largest hospital went on strike on Monday,
demanding better pay and equipment to protect them against a deadly
Ebola epidemic which has killed hundreds in the West African nation.

Spokesman for the strikers at Monrovia's John F Kennedy hospital, John
Tugbeh, said the nurses would not return to work until they are
supplied with "personal protective equipment", the hazmat-style suits
which guard against infectious diseases.

"From the beginning of the Ebola outbreak we have not had any
protective equipment to work with. As a result, so many doctors got
infected by the virus. We have to stay home until we get the PPEs," he
said.

The Ebola virus, transmitted through contact with infected bodily
fluids, has killed more than 1,500 people in four countries since the
start of the year - almost 700 of them in Liberia.

A high proportion of the deaths - almost a tenth - have been among
health workers and the World Health Organisation has warned that the
outbreak is set to get a lot worse, predicting up to 20,000 cases
before it is brought under control.

The surgical section at JFK is the only trauma referral centre in
Liberia and a long-term dispute would severely damage the country's
capability to respond to the Ebola crisis.

The hospital closed temporarily in July over the infections and deaths
of an unspecified number of health workers who had been treating Ebola
patients.

"We need proper equipment to work with (and) we need better pay
because we are going to risk our lives," Tueh said.

It was not immediately clear how large the striking group was, or what
contingency plans were in place at the hospital, which has not made a
statement on the action.