Former Leamington doctor reports back after Ebola work

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Dr Paul Gully, who brought up his family in Farley Street, volunteered to go into the epicentre of the Ebola crisis as a field coordinator for the World Health Organisation at the nation’s capital city Freetown in October.

He has been reporting back to friends and members of One World Link (OWL), the organisation he and others founded which provides an aid link between the town of Bo in Sierra Leone and the Warwick district.

In his most recent update in late March, Dr Gully said: “With intense efforts to locate every case and contact, the disease is slowly receding, despite persistent problems with insufficient expertise, irregular payment of staff, a lack of fuel in outlying districts and challenges in data management.

“Thursday marked the first day with no reported cases since the start of the outbreak here last May. “This is likely to change, however, as last week there were still 4,449 contacts being followed, some of which can be expected to develop the disease within the 21 days of monitoring.”

Dr Gully said Guinea was reporting more cases, which was a concern due to the proximity of the cases with Sierra Leone’s borders.

He added: “Schools may re-open soon, but those used as Ebola isolation and treatment centres must be decontaminated.”

An appeal for donations made by One World Link raised more than £3,500, which will be used by people in Bo to help the disease from returning and spreading again.

Some 16 schools in Bo and Warwick district are linked through OWL with teachers having travelled to Sierra Leone during safer times.

The English schools have themselves raised about £600 for the Ebola cause.