Ebola, Chimeras, and Unexpected Speculation

On 13 November 2014, (foreground) Mariama Kiadii, an Ebola survivor, looks over the top of a partition, at a newly built Ebola treatment unit (ETU) in Monrovia, the capital. The treatment unit, located in Monrovia’s Congotown neighbourhood, near the Ministry of Defence compound, is comprised of health workers from Liberia, Cuba and African Union countries. Ms. Kiadii said: “My grandfather was sick. I used to pay him a visit. After he died, the children got sick and were taken to the ETU. After that so many people got sick, including me, and my mother, my little sister; we were taken to JFK [another ETU in Monrovia]. By the grace of God, we survived. And then they called us … because we already survived the virus, so we would be the best people to help. So that was how we came to this place. I’ve got my department, which is the laundry. We wash the scrubs, the boots, the gloves, and so on. I’ve been here for the past two weeks now, as they’ve just opened the place. At least I was successful in surviving the virus, because it’s not an easy task to enter the ETU ward and walk out.” Twenty-one members of Ms. Kiadii’s family have died from EVD. “Thank God some of us were successful to come through,” she added. “There’s a saying that the virus cannot catch us anymore. Other people need our help and that is why I’m here.” UNICEF is supplying water to meet the drinking, washing, bathing and disinfecting needs for patients at the health facility, which has two chlorine disinfecting stations. At least 150 litres of water is required to fully care for each Ebola patient – 10 times the amount that a Liberian normally uses. The ETU is one of two built in October 2014 by UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Liberian Government, to help treat the overflow of Ebola patients at other health facilities. The units each have a 100-bed capacity. In November 2014, Liberia remains one of three countries in West Africa experiencing widespr