EBOLA VIRUS . . . SEND DOCTORS, NOT SOLDIERS

The government of Zaire should spend less time constructing roadblocks and do more tofight the deadly Ebola virus, a leading virologist argued today. Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfun, who helped identify Ebola 19 years ago, said in a radio address from Kikwit, the center of the contagion, that people sick with Ebola were generally too disoriented and weak to travel long distances, making a large quarantine area unnecessary. Muyembe also said that the roadblocks were a waste of time, since anyone with enough money could buy escape. The government must send more doctors and sanitary equipment, he said, in order to help protect others from becoming infected.