DHAKA: Hundreds of children have been killed by the Ebola epidemic ravaging west Africa, yet for the thousands spared, the grim struggle for survival has only just begun.

Children across Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea are finding themselves alone in the world, ostracised by communities terrified by the contagion and without family to look after them.

‘It was different with the HIV epidemic,’ says UNICEF spokeswoman Sarah Crowe, referring to the system of extended family and friends taking on AIDS orphans.

‘It was a safety net. Now with the fear of Ebola, the system has broken down,’ she says, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1256 HRS, OCT 08, 2014