Ebola Taking Emotional Toll On Some Minnesotans

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Ebola crisis in West Africa is hitting some immigrants in Minnesota particularly hard, and efforts are underway to try to help them deal with the trauma of losing loved ones to the virus.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that many West Africans in Minnesota are struggling with grief. One person has lost 17 family members to Ebola. Another has lost eight, including her husband and her mother.

Alexander Collins is executive director of the Liberian Ministers Association of Minnesota. He says his association is working with the Minnesota Peacebuilding Leadership Institute to train a first-response team to help the community work through grief.

A professor at the University of Minnesota-Crookston is also working on a survey to assess the psychological effects of the Ebola outbreak.