UN releases manual for safe Ebola burials
BERLIN — The World Health Organization has released a 17-page manual detailing how to safely bury people who have died from Ebola.
The U.N. agency said Friday the guidelines are part of an effort to reduce the likelihood of people contracting Ebola from corpses.
WHO Ebola expert Pierre Formenty says at least one in five infections occur during burials.
The guidelines give step-by-step advice to health workers for both Christian and Muslim burials.
WHO cites guidance from a Muslim chaplain that the ritual washing of the body normally required isn't needed when someone dies from Ebola. The manual also recommends that items handled by the patient, particularly any mattress they may have used, be burned.
There have been more than 4,800 deaths since December.
