Out of Africa, Ebola hits home for Lynn women

LYNN – African-born Lynn residents said the global war on Ebola must be waged on two fronts, with doctors fighting to destroy the disease and common sense and education eliminating the fear that is Ebola?s byproduct.?People are afraid; they are starting to stigmatize,” said Star Kahari.Kahari is from the African nation of Zimbabwe and Mamunie Dennis is a West African who has lived in Lynn since 1989 and knows people in Liberia who have lost as many as three family members in a week to Ebola.?They are losing family. They don?t know who to talk to. They can?t move freely,” Dennis said.Like fellow Lynn residents Omo Idusuyi and Julie Kabukanyi, Dennis said a worldwide medical response can eliminate Ebola in the West African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.Idusuyi, executive director of the Nigerian International Humanitarian Foundation of New England, Inc., said African-born Americans in the Lynn area plan to raise money to buy and send needed supplies to nations hit hard by Ebola.?We can?t lose sight of the fact that this virus has taken so many lives,” Idusuyi said.Dennis said local and state agencies and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must increase education campaigns aimed at helping people replace fear with common sense concerning Ebola.She said African community events are only drawing small crowds, and Joan Brown, who co-owns Kreative Hair Design on Western Avenue with Kahari, said her customers report being asked questions such as, “?Oh, you?re from Africa? When did you last go there last??”Idusuyi said authorities in her Nigerian homeland established heavy screening procedures to drive Ebola out of that nation. Kabukanyi, Congolese Women Association of New England president and a nurse, said preparedness and infection control are the ways to fight Ebola in the United States.Lynn emergency workers are “taking a balanced approach” to dealing locally with Ebola, Fire Capt. Thomas Hines told City Council members Tuesday night. He stressed that Ebola is only transmitted by direct contact with bodily fluids.?It?s not airborne. Ebola is easily killed with bleach – it?s not a very strong virus,” he said.North Shore Medical Center spokesman Kevin Ronningen said anyone arriving at Union Hospital and Salem Hospital emergency rooms and outpatient care offices are asked to describe their travel history, including recent trips to African nations where Ebola is present.Ronningen said patients are also asked if they have had direct contact with someone who has Ebola, and whether they have Ebola symptoms – including muscle pain, severe headache, vomiting and diarrhea.?There is an initial verbal screening. Most people are eliminated at Question One,” Ronningen said.Emergency responders will also ask screening questions to determine the type of protective clothing they must wear. Ronningen said workers in both hospitals have been training with protective clothing and procedures for helping someone who may exhibit Ebola symptoms.?We?ve created an Ebola response team. The first thing to do is to isolate the patient,” he said.Idusuyi said common sense precautions grounded in education can help people prevent Ebola?s spread.?We should educate everybody instead of putting fear in people.”