High-profile Liberian Ebola survivor dies after childbirth because nurses ‘wouldn’t go near her’

In November 2014, Salome Karwah of Liberia graced the cover of Time magazine as a symbol of strength and humanity after surviving Ebola and using her experience to help others with the virus.

But last month, Karwah died shortly after giving birth to her fourth child – and her husband blames the stigma attached to Ebola.

“My wife died because she was not catered to by nurses and doctors. The reason, I believe, is because she is an Ebola survivor,” James Harris said. “I am saying this because I heard some nurses telling friends not to go near my wife because she is a survivor.”

The outbreak of Ebola in West Africa starting in 2013, which hit Liberia the hardest, infected nearly 29,000 people by conservative estimates, killing more than a third.

Karwah worked as a counsellor for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) after recovering from Ebola in the summer of 2014, helping others to cope with the psychological toll of the haemorrhagic fever.

One evening in February, Harris said, his wife was admitted to hospital in the capital, Monrovia, where she gave birth by caesarean section. She returned home just two days later, telling her husband that some of the nurses refused to touch her.