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Sierra Leone on lockdown after new Ebola cases

By Amy R. Connolly
This National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) image, taken on August 12, 2014 using a digitally-colorized scanning electron micrograph (SEM), depicts a single filamentous Ebola virus particle. Ebola hemorrhagic fever (Ebola HF) is one of numerous Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers. It is a severe, often fatal disease in humans and nonhuman primates. File Photo by UPI/NIAID.
This National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) image, taken on August 12, 2014 using a digitally-colorized scanning electron micrograph (SEM), depicts a single filamentous Ebola virus particle. Ebola hemorrhagic fever (Ebola HF) is one of numerous Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers. It is a severe, often fatal disease in humans and nonhuman primates. File Photo by UPI/NIAID. | License Photo

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, March 27 (UPI) -- Sierra Leone began a mandatory three-day lockdown Friday after the West African nation reported dozens of new Ebola cases last week.

Some six million people were being confined to their homes, except for religious services, in an effort to curb the spread of the deadly virus. Muslims are allowed a two-hour exemption on Friday for prayer and Christians get a five-hour window on Sunday.

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Health workers have been going door-to-door to spread information about the lockdown. They are focusing on the nation's capital, Freetown, and the northern part of the country, both considered epicenters of the epidemic.

Along with Sierra Leone, the two other hard-hit countries, Guinea and Liberia, have set targets of having zero cases by the middle of April. The outbreak has killed more than 10,000 in the three countries in the past year.

At the same time, scientists continue to work on vaccines that would protect from the disease. University of Wisconsin-Madison scientist Yoshihiro Kawaoka and his colleagues announced the development of a new vaccine that shows promise.

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"In terms of efficacy, this affords excellent protection," said Kawaoka, a professor of pathobiological sciences. "It is also a very safe vaccine."

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