AFRICA/SENEGAL - Ebola: “Keep watch, do not panic” says the local Church

Monday, 1 September 2014

Dakar (Agenzia Fides) – The Catholic Church in Senegal has joined national efforts to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus since the 29 August official announcement confirmed a first case of infection in that country.
In a message to Catholics, a copy was sent to Fides, the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Dakar, Mgr. Alphonse Seck, urges all “to keep watch and not to panic”. Mgr. Seck attended a meeting with leading members of Senegal’s Health Ministry to establish measures necessary to prevent the infection from spreading.
“We have urged our brother priests - Mgr. Seck writes- to choose a moment of the Sunday Eucharist to remind all present of the prevention measures recommended by the Ministry of Health and Social Assistance and ask them to help diffuse the measures though every means possible”. The recommended measures can be downloaded at the web site of the Catholic Archdiocese of Dakar (www.seneglise.sn ).
The statement also underlined that “relative information must be given in the national and local languages to guarantee better communication and reduce the diffusion of rumours and false beliefs stemming from superstition”.
The Ebola virus in the affected west African countries (Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria) has killed so far at least 1,500 people, of whom 120 were doctors and nurses. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 1/9/2014)


Share: