Ebola Outbreak in Guinea Contained but Death Toll Rises

nsnbc : The government of Guinea reported yesterday, that it could contain the outbreak of the deadly haemorragic fever Ebola. Meanwhile the death toll rises amid fears that the disease might spread into neighboring countries.

Guinea_Map_Ebola_2014The Guienean government’s health officials reported on Wednesday, that the death toll from the Ebola fever has risen to 63, but that it has contained the outbreak and prevented the spread of the disease into neighboring countries. Meanwhile, both UN agencies and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have scrambled to help Guinea, reports the Reuters news agency.

Guinea belongs to the world’s most poverty stricken nations and shares a border with Liberia, which reported five deaths of people who have entered the country from Guinea to seek treatment. The Ebola outbreak has also claimed victims in Sierra Leone, where two people died in the border town of Boidu, reports Reuters, adding that 13 out of 45 tested persons had been found positive and that more samples from Sierra Leone and Liberia have been sent for analysis.

Meanwhile, the Guinean Minister of Health, Remy Lamah, spoke to Reuters on the phone from the affected area in the remote forest region of Guinea and cites the minister as saying that medical equipment has been shipped into the area and that  MSF is helping to control the outbreak.

The news agency quotes MSF, which is increasingly developing a tarnished reputation for politicizing its medial aid work, as stating that the number of suspected infections had risen by just two from Tuesday, to 88, according to government figures, adding that four more died, however, bringing the death toll up to 63.

Ebola was first discovered  in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976. Even though there have not been reported more than some 2.200 cases of Ebola since then, some 1,500 of them ended fatally.

Ebola was first registered in Guinea in February and have since identified the strain to be the very virulent Zaire strain. The alleys of infection remain largely unknown, but experts suspect that bats carry the virus between outbreaks, much like mosquitos carry Malaria.

The Guinean government has banned all sales of bush meat and warns in particular against the consumption of bats. The government has decreed that there will be no public funerals of those deceased from Ebola and volunteers are disinfecting the homes of affected families.

Ebola has an incubation period of three weeks and its initial symptoms are easily confused with those of Malaria and Cholera, which makes it particularly difficult to contain outbreaks in countries where these two diseases are endemic. There does not exist a vaccine and there is no efficient treatment for Ebola other than symptomatic treatment.

The risk of infection can be reduced by additional hygienic measures such as washing hands and wearing gloves, face masks and protective eye goggles, reports MSF, which uses this equipment for staff that enters affected areas.

Ch/L – nsnbc 27.03.2014

Source Article from http://nsnbc.me/2014/03/27/ebola-outbreak-guinea-contained-death-toll-rises/

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