Embalmers, funeral parlors, morticians and other people preparing corpses for burial or cremation, and even relatives of people are advised to be extra careful and ensure they exercise safe and sanitary practices when handling the dead bodies of Ebola virus victims.

A study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that based on samples of monkeys that died from Ebola, the virus was viable for at least seven days after their demise. Researches also detected infectious viral RNA for up to 70 days after death.

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The samples used by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the NIH came from five dead monkeys euthanized after they showed signs of the disease. The corpses of the monkeys were placed in chambers similar to environmental conditions in West Africa.

The researchers used samples from seven different body surfaces and took tissues from various internal organs, giving them measurements of live Ebola virus and viral RNA concentration levels. The results were that the live virus could be detected in surface swabs up to seven days after death, while that for viral RNA in various swabs and samples lasts up to 10 weeks after demise.

The NIH said the findings appear to be consistent for non-human primates such as monkeys and gorillas. The study, published recently in the Emerging Infectious Disease journal, was actually designed to test animals found dead in the wild, but the institute altered the timing and emphasis of the research to focus on humans after West Africa was hit by the Ebola outbreak.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Sierra Leone, one of the three countries hardest hit by the outbreak, locked down on Friday a community in Freetown after a spike in Ebola cases.

National Ebola Response Centre Director OB Sisay said the neighborhood in the capital city would be quarantined for 21 days because of this development. The centre sent health workers in a house-to-house search in Aberdeen which has dense urban poor communities and nearby expensive dining establishments and hotels that attract foreign guests.

TagsSierra Leone