Thousands Of Children Orphaned By Ebola Have Been Rejected By Their Relatives And Communities

At least 3,700 children in West Africa have lost one or both parents to Ebola, according to UNICEF.

The Ebola outbreak has left as least 3,700 children orphaned in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, according to UNICEF.

AP Photo/Jerome Delay

Children sit in front of their home in the St. Paul Bridge neighborhood of Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 28.

Most of these children, who have lost one or both parents to the deadly virus, are being abandoned and shunned by relatives for fear of infection.

AP Photo/Jerome Delay

Children pray during Sunday service at the Bridgeway Baptist Church in the St. Paul Bridge neighborhood of Monrovia, Liberia, on Sept. 28.

"These children urgently need special attention and support; yet many of them feel unwanted and even abandoned," said Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF regional director for West & Central Africa.

AP Photo/Jerome Delay

A Liberian child sells oranges at the site where a team of U.S. Navy engineers prepares the ground for a 25-bed medical facility they are building next to the airport in Monrovia on Sept. 27.

Fontaine said thousands of children "are living through the deaths of their mother, father or family members from Ebola."

Some of them are as young as 3 or 4 years old, the BBC reported.

While orphans are usually taken in by their extended families, Fontaine said "the fear surrounding Ebola is becoming stronger than family ties."

The number of children orphaned by Ebola has spiked in the past few weeks and is likely to double by mid-October as the death toll continues to rise.

AP Photo/Jerome Delay

A child plays in the streets of Monrovia on Sept. 28.

More than 3,000 people have died in the deadly Ebola outbreak plaguing West Africa, according to the World Health Organization. The crisis is worsening in Sierra Leone, with over 2 million people under quarantine.

The crisis is also taking a heavy emotional toll on children when they or their parents have to be isolated for Ebola treatment, UNICEF said.

AP Photo/Abbas Dulleh

A child looks at a man suspected of suffering from the Ebola virus, while holding his hand over his nose, in a main street and busy part in Monrovia on Sept. 12.

UNICEF has appealed for $200 million to provide emergency assistance to children and families affected by Ebola but said it has received only 25% of the amount.

AP Photo/Jerome Delay

A child selling clothes waits for customers in the St. Paul Bridge neighborhood of Monrovia on Sept. 26.

"Ebola is turning a basic human reaction like comforting a sick child into a potential death sentence," said Fontiane.

AP Photo/Jerome Delay

Children pray during Sunday service at the Bridgeway Baptist Church in the St. Paul Bridge neighborhood of Monrovia on Sept. 28.

UNICEF said it is working with authorities in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea to help train medical and mental health workers to provide care and support to children who have been rejected by their communities as well as to quarantined children.

The organization said it was also working to reunite separated children with their families. UNICEF will also provide about 60,000 vulnerable children and families in Guinea with psychosocial support.

However, the majority of children affected by Ebola are still without appropriate care, Fontaine said.

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02:50 PM - 25 Sep 2014

Children have been found alone in hospitals where their parents died from the disease. Some are fed by neighbors in their communities, but most avoid contact with them, the BBC reported.