Ebola, the deadly virus that has killed hundreds of people in Africa, has hit home in Minnesota, where the Liberian community and a mother of three little girls is mourning the death of one of their own.
Decontee Sawyer, 34, of Coon Rapids, learned Friday that her husband, Patrick Sawyer, 40, a Liberian government worker who travels between his Minnesota family and his West African job, died from the deadly disease. Her husband last visited Minnesota last summer and planned to return in August.
"Everyone here knows Patrick," Decontee Sawyer said. "So everyone feels like they've lost their best friend. They've lost their brother. And everyone is angry. It's hit home. Ebola has been in Liberia since February, and it took Patrick being knocked down by Ebola for folks here in the U.S. to wake up to how serious it is."
"It's not just about the poor people who didn't know better," she said. "People weren't doing what they needed to do to protect themselves or to really help the people over there. But now with Patrick, everyone knows him to be an educated man and he's a top government official. It can happen to anyone."
Historically, Ebola virus disease in Africa has killed up to 90 percent of those infected. In this outbreak, the fatality rate is nearer 60 percent, said Stephen Monroe, deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Emerging & Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.
There's no cure for the disease, but early treatment may lead to higher survival rates, the agency said.
Ebola is spread by direct contact with an infected person's blood or other bodily secretions, including vomit, saliva or feces.
Decontee Sawyer said she and others have launched an effort — Concerned Liberians Against Ebola — to educate people and raise money and supplies for the Samaritan's Purse and Global Health Ministries, two international groups that are at the forefront of the Ebola battle.
