Arrests Made in Killings of Guinea Ebola Education Team....

Guinea’s government  has said six people have been arrested in connection with the killings of eight people on an Ebola awareness campaign.

A team of health and government officials, accompanied by journalists, had gone to the village of Womey, in Guinea, on Tuesday. Although there have been attacks on health centers in several affected countries, these are the first fatalities.

“The government strongly condemns the killings of these Guinean citizens including those officials who were carrying out their duties at the time,” the statement issued by the presidency of Guinea said Friday.

 “These crimes are especially regrettable coming at a time when the international community is mobilizing to help the affected countries in their fight against the Ebola virus.”

The victims from Tuesday’s attack included the deputy administrative official in Womey and the head of the health-care center there.

 Two top health officials from the nearby town of N’Zerekore were killed, along with a pastor and three radio journalists who had been covering the awareness campaigning. The son of the deputy administrative official managed to escape and survived, the government said.

The violence underscores the mistrust and fear that remain nearly nine months after the first person died from what was later discovered to be Ebola. The disease, which can cause bleeding from the eyes, mouth and ears, never before had sickened people in West Africa. And when it did, villagers immediately feared outsiders had brought it here. Others don’t believe Ebola exists.