April 4, 2014 -- Updated 1004 GMT (1804 HKT)
The death toll from an Ebola outbreak in coastal West Africa has risen
to 84, aid workers have reported. More deaths are suspected or confirmed
in Liberia and Sierra Leone. FULL STORY
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VIDEO
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WHAT IS EBOLA?
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WHAT IS EBOLA?Ebola toll tops 80 in West Africa
April 4, 2014 -- Updated 1245 GMT (2045 HKT)
Health workers teach people about the Ebola virus and how to prevent infection amid a recent outbreak in Guinea.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Mali says it has 3 suspected Ebola cases
- Ebola has sickened 131 people, killed 84 in Guinea, WHO says
- More deaths are suspected or confirmed in Liberia, Sierra Leone
- Eight of the dead are health care workers
The deaths are among the
131 cases reported by the World Health Organization, which said the
outbreak has "rapidly evolved" since originating in the forests of
southeastern Guinea. The city of Guekedou, near the borders with Sierra
Leone and Liberia, has seen 79 cases, 57 of them fatal; another four
deaths were in the capital, Conakry.
It's the first emergence
of Ebola in western Africa, and WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said the
U.N. agency is trying to track people who had encountered the victims
and make sure "that all those who have been in contact with infected
people are being checked upon."
Doctors work to isolate Ebola outbreak
Ebola virus spreads to Guinea capital
Guinea: Ebola virus spreading fast
"What is really important
is to inform the population of Guinea and Conakry about this disease,
as this is the first time they are facing Ebola. They need to know what
it is and how they can protect themselves."
In Liberia, one Ebola
death has been confirmed and six more are suspected; Sierra Leone is
investigating at least two deaths. The aid organization Doctors Without
Borders has called the outbreak unprecedented, because previous cases have been limited to a small area.
Mali's government reported on its Facebook page
on Thursday that biological samples tied to three suspected Ebola cases
within its borders are being sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention for analysis.
In the meantime, the
three people there suspected of having the disease are being treated in
an isolated unit, where their health is improving.
Ebola is one of the
world's deadliest viruses, causing a hemorrhagic fever that kills up to
90% of those infected. It spreads in the blood and shuts down the immune
system, causing high fever, headache and muscle pain, often accompanied
by bleeding.
The virus is named after the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), where one of the first outbreaks occurred in 1976.
CNN's Anna Maja Rappard contributed to this report.
TOP AFRICA STORIES
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Amanpour recalls Rwanda, interviews minister
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Blasts at Cairo University kill officer
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'Unprecedented' Ebola outbreak
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- EU launches military operation in Central African Republic
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Jailed Al Jazeera journalists denied bail
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- Six killed in blast in Kenya
GENOCIDE REMEMBERED
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RELIVING MASSACRE
Remembering -- and trying to forget -- Rwanda's genocide, 20 years on
April 4, 2014 -- Updated 1334 GMT (2134 HKT)
20 years on, children of Rwanda's rape
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Rwandan genocide took place 20 years ago: Hutu militia massacred members of the Tutsi ethnic minority
- Many of those who survived the carnage were left scarred; rape was used as a weapon, spreading HIV
- Marie Jeanne's daughter Kirezi was born as a result of rape; two decades on this still pains both of them
- But Kirezi is determined to dream of a brighter future for herself and her country
But all Marie Jeanne wants to do is to forget.
The 36-year-old's entire family was slaughtered during that dark period in her small East African country's history.
The massacre saw Hutu
militias and civilians alike murder vast numbers of members of the Tutsi
ethnic minority: Men, women and children, many of whom had been their
neighbors before the conflict began.
The killings finally came
to an end 100 days later, when Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) troops,
led by Paul Kagame, defeated the Hutu rebels and took control of the
country.
Why 'eye for eye' couldn't work in Rwanda
Rwandan's mission: Justice after genocide
Bill Clinton on Rwandan Genocide
To Marie Jeanne the end
of the war also meant an end to the repeated, brutal rapes she had been
forced to endure at the hands of many different men.
"Wherever we used to go
and meet a roadblock at least two would rape you and release you," she
tells CNN. "Some could let you go and others would hold you for longer."
The genocide left Marie Jeanne emotionally and physically scarred, HIV+ and pregnant. She was just 16 years old.
Community members gave
her shelter and she says some of the women told her they would help her
with the abortion she so desperately requested.
But as time passed, she knew they had lied to her. Then, the labor pains came.
Marie Jeanne says it was some time before she could finally look at her newborn baby girl, who she named Kirezi.
And 20 years on, Marie Jeanne says her daughter's birthday is still a source of pain to her.
"I never remember the
birthday of my child because there was nothing good about it," she says.
"I have never celebrated her birthday because most of the times I never
want to remember it."
Kirezi mirrors her
mother's pain. Seated on a wooden chair in their small living room, she
fiddles with a bead bracelet on her wrist. Her lips tremble as she tries
to bare her soul to us. Her anguish is palpable.
"I was born going
through all bad things, so I feel that I don't really care about my
birthday. Birthdays are for people who are happy only," she says.
Remembering genocide in Rwanda
Tutsis and Hutus working together
Rwandan reconciliation village
"It's painful - it hurts
me, I always ask myself and I lose all my courage. I ask myself why I
existed. And ask myself why it happened. And I feel that I am not worth
anything. It makes me so sad," she cries.
Marie Jeanne says she
loves her daughter and would do anything for her, but at times she feels
that her daughter is a constant, painful reminder of the horrors she
went through two decades ago.
"Within thirty minutes
my heart can change and I feel bad against her in my heart," she says.
"Whenever I see her, I remember so many things."
Marie Jeanne unscrews a
plastic bottle containing anti-retroviral tablets (ARVs). The medicine,
taken twice daily, is helping her stave off the worst symptoms of
HIV/AIDS. For now.
"During the genocide,
the militia deliberately infected women with HIV," Odette Kayirere,
co-ordinator at the Association of the Widows of Rwanda (AVEGA),
explains.
At the AVEGA headquarters in Kigali, genocide survivors with HIV/AIDS line up to receive ARVs.
Most have similar
stories to Marie Jeanne. Passed on from attacker to attacker, they
contracted the AIDS virus. For them, this is the legacy of the genocide.
"It was a plan," says Marie Jeanne. "Their aim was to make genocide carry on."
But Kirezi is determined to unchain herself from the dark past. Instead she dreams of a brighter future.
"I want to be a very
important person," she says. "To help people in similar situations as
me, vulnerable people like orphans, and also to be a minister."
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