Liberians Commemorate Their Dead, Ten Years After Ebola

On Wednesday, Liberian citizens marked the tenth anniversary of the devastating Ebola epidemic that swept through their country.

Every second Wednesday of March, Liberia observes National Decoration Day, a solemn occasion where people congregate at various cemeteries to remember their departed loved ones. This year, families gathered at the Disco Hill Safe Burial Site in Margibi County to pay their respects to the victims of Ebola.

The National Public Health Institute of Liberia said that approximately 4,500 bodies of victims, as well as the ashes of those who were cremated, were interred at the site.

Africanews reported that Yassa Johnson, who now cares for her younger brother and sister, visited the site to honour her mother, who succumbed to the epidemic. She shared that her mother passed away while infected with the virus, though she disputed that her death was due to Ebola, attributing it instead to high blood pressure.

Liberia became the third country to confirm the spread of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) after Sierra Leone and Guinea. The outbreak led to a surge in cases in Monrovia, Liberia’s capital city.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), a total of 4,810 individuals lost their lives to the virus in Liberia, making it among the countries most severely affected by the virus.

It achieved virus-free status in 2016, following nearly 5,000 deaths.

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