Wednesday, November 26, 2014 11:30 PM ET 
Sierra Leone sees downhill trend in Ebola on horizon; another 3-day lockdown likely
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It has been almost seven months since the first reported Ebola case in Sierra Leone, and while it has taken the country longer than other affected countries to bring under control, it may provide some relief that the country's government believes the emergence of new cases has plateaued and will soon be on a downhill trend.
Speaking during a Nov. 26 webcast, Alpha Kanu, minister of information and communications for the Sierra Leone government, told reporters he does not think the number of Ebola cases in the West African country will go any higher.
"I believe we are at the plateau of the curve. So very soon we will start the downhill trend, once we have somewhere to take the people," he said.
According to the World Health Organization, Sierra Leone has 5,152 confirmed cases of Ebola and 1,058 people have died from the disease. Including probable and suspected cases, the total increases to 6,190.
The British military are building treatment centers in various provinces, including Port Loko, that are due for completion by the end of November and in early December.
This is expected to boost bed capacity to 1,000 and reduce the instances of transmission of the disease by removing affected people from the community.
The deadly Ebola virus is particularly prevalent in remote areas, which poses a significant threat to a number of mining operations.
While it may be too late for some, such as London Mining Plc — which was forced into administration due to a number of factors, including the impact of the Ebola outbreak — it may ease the minds of others to know that the risk of transmission is declining as locals in rural areas become more educated about the disease.
Iron ore producer London Mining pulled its nonessential personnel out of Sierra Leone, where it operated the Marampa mine, in June, and by mid-October had revealed it could no longer remain in operation as result of low iron ore prices, high leverage, a lack of liquidity and disruptions stemming from the Ebola crisis.
At around the same time London Mining evacuated its staff, fellow London-listed iron ore miner African Minerals Ltd. suspended transport to and from its 65%-owned Tonkolili mine and areas believed to be affected by the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone.
Randgold Resources Ltd. is also keeping a close eye on the situation, with the company owning five projects in various countries within West Africa.
According to SNL Metals & Mining data, there are 39 assets in production within the Ebola-affected region comprising Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, Senegal, Mali, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, associated with 64 different entities with ownership claims.
For the analysis, SNL defined the Ebola region as African countries where Ebola cases were reported, although Nigeria and Senegal are now classified as Ebola-free, according to the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention.
Commodity exposure in the Ebola-affected region is diverse; however, copper, gold and iron ore are the most susceptible with 13, 14 and five producing mines, respectively.
Kanu told reporters that people in rural areas were initially reluctant to move away from traditional burial practices, such as bathing and touching the dead, but with the implementation of education programs about the Ebola virus, attitudes and practices are changing.
"We now see a reduction in the amount of secret burials, a reduction in the amount of defiant burials of people, so that now the alerts are increasing on a daily basis for reporting deaths everywhere, including the rural areas," he said.
The Sierra Leone government has also implemented a policy of providing medical burials, whether it was proven that a person had Ebola or not.
Another 3-day lockdown on the cards
Back in September, the government engaged in an experimental lockdown of the country for three days, and is signaling plans to do it again.
"It hasn't become policy yet, but I believe it will take place because now that the treatment centers the British are building are nearing completion, and we have more holding centers now in the country, it means that we need to identify those that are infected and remove them from the communities, and to do that is to engage most likely in another lockdown," Kanu said.
"Once we have [the treatment centers] I'm sure that we will be able to deal with the existing cases within the communities and reduce the chances of person-to-person transmission."
According to Kanu, the combined effort of the Sierra Leone government and the international community is "bearing fruit" and preventing the virus from spreading faster than it otherwise would have.
"We were able to put in measures where social mobilization — led by local traditional chiefs, local politicians, and also at the behest of his excellency the president — able to mobilize educational programs, sensitization programs, to bring to the knowledge of our people, especially to those in remote areas, that this is a virus like no other Sierra Leone has seen before," Kanu said. "Indeed it's a virus like no other the world has seen before."
Sierra Leone has also been successful in preventing the spread of Ebola to neighboring countries as well as countries outside of the African continent with strict measures put in place at its airport.
"Since it's a people-carried disease, the tendency for it to be carried elsewhere is quite high and we're very mindful of that as a nation and that is why we have put measures at the airport to ensure that the chances are reduced to the barest minimum," Kanu said.
"Thankfully so far, up until today, the two or three aircraft that service Sierra Leone have not reported any exported Ebola cases out of Sierra Leone, which means our checks and balances at the airport are quite effective."
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