This Article is From Oct 21, 2014

Third UN Employee Dies from Ebola

Third UN Employee Dies from Ebola

A team of funeral agents put a body in a grave. (Agence France-Presse)

United Nations: A UN staff member in Sierra Leone has died from Ebola, the third employee from the world organization to succumb to the deadly virus, the UN spokesman said on Monday.

The man, who was a driver for the UN Women agency, passed away at the weekend in Sierra Leone and his spouse is currently receiving treatment, said spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

"All measures to protect staff at the duty station in Sierra Leone are being taken as best as possible under the current circumstances," said Dujarric.

A Sudanese national who worked as a UN health worker in Liberia died in Germany last week while a Liberian woman died of probable Ebola last month.

UN Women said in a statement that Edmond Bangura-Sesay, who had been a driver for the agency since 2005, died on Saturday after testing positive for Ebola.

He was placed in quarantine on October 14 after his wife fell ill.

She remains under care at an Ebola treatment centre and a UN medical team was working to trace all the people who came in contact with the driver, said UN Women.

The world's worst Ebola outbreak has killed at least 4,500 people in West Africa where the United Nations is leading an effort to beat back the virus with a massive influx of aid.


A UN trust fund set up to provide quick funding to confront the Ebola emergency got a boost when Australia deposited $8.7 million and more pledges have come in.

Chile, Estonia, Finland, India, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Norway and Romania offered contributions to the fund, bringing the total amount of pledges to $43.5 million.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon last week caused a stir when he complained of having only $100,000 in cash on hand for the fund and urged nations to dig deep in their pockets.

The fund is separate from a $1 billion dollar appeal that the United Nations has launched to beef up the Ebola response. So far, $433 million have been donated to the appeal which is earmarked for UN agencies.
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