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Russian Medical Workers Witness Unattended Corpses in Guinea Amid Ebola Outbreak

© RIA Novosti . Alexander Kryazhev / Go to the mediabankValery Mikheyev, head of biological research center Vector.
Valery Mikheyev, head of biological research center Vector. - Sputnik International
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Russian medical workers have been shocked by poor living conditions and unattended corpses on the streets of Guinea while on assignment in the Ebola-stricken country, Valery Mikheyev, head of biological research center Vector, said Tuesday.

NOVOSIBIRSK, October 14 (RIA Novosti) – Russian medical workers have been shocked by poor living conditions and unattended corpses on the streets of Guinea while on assignment in the Ebola-stricken country, Valery Mikheyev, head of biological research center Vector, said Tuesday.

"They [the medical workers] saw such living conditions for the first time. You can walk down a street and see a dead body that no one is taking care of. Or you can walk up to a hut and have a look at the conditions people live in and you will be shocked," Mikheyev told journalists.

He added that the researchers that had never been to Guinea before were overcome with emotions at what they saw.

The head of the research center said that Ebola is spreading due to poor access to medicine in the country and local customs that presuppose kissing a deceased person.

"Bodily fluids, such as sweat and others, contain the virus. That is why such contact facilitates a rapid spread of the virus. Burying the infected is also a problem. The locals do not allow medical workers to disinfect the hotbed of the disease," he said.

Two staff members from the Vector center have been working in Guinea for more than a month and are due to be back on Wednesday when they will be replaced with their colleagues that will continue the work on Monday.

The current Ebola outbreak started in Guinea in February and then spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Senegal. More than 4,000 people have lost their lives to the virus, according to the World Health Organization estimates.

The Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of the infected. There is no officially approved medication for the disease, but several countries are currently working on developing Ebola vaccines, with Russia planning to introduce three vaccines within the next six months.

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