Map showing the locations of reported Ebola cases in West Africa through April 1, 2014. Click on the map for a larger image.
Ebola hemorrhagic fever has appeared in Guinea and Liberia for the first time. Two seemingly unrelated outbreaks have taken over 80 lives at this point and the outbreak appears to be spreading. There are reports of the disease in both Sierra Leone and Mali.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are assisting the governments. In Guinea, at the center of the largest outbreak, Doctors Without Borders, also called Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), is assisting with the care and treatment of victims of the viral illness.
The latest from the CDC on Ebola in Guinea and Liberia is:
Guinea as of April 1
127 suspect and confirmed cases of Ebola
83 deaths
35 laboratory confirmed cases
14 health care workers have been laboratory confirmed positive for EHF, including 8 deaths
at least 12 Ebola patients in Conakry, the capital of Guinea
Liberia
eight suspected and confirmed cases
five deaths
two deaths confirmed by lab as Ebola
The sudden and unexpected Ebola outbreaks in a region entirely unprepared to respond is a challenge for international public health agencies. The people of West Africa have seen their share of misery in the last forty years. Corruption and civil wars have combined to impoverish millions.
The Ebola outbreak in Guinea began in the rainforests in the southwestern part of the country. The illness has spread in that region and has also been found in Conakry, the capital of Guinea.
The Liberian outbreak was initially believed to be part of the Guinean outbreak. The area where the first Ebola illnesses appeared in in the northeast, near the border with Guinea and the site of its outbreak.
The two Ebola deaths initially reported from Sierra Leone have been discounted. It appears that family transported the bodies of two suspected Ebola victims to Sierra Leone for burial. The authorities are very concerned and illnesses from this event are possible, even likely.
In Mali, border security has been increased at its border with Guinea. Three suspected cases of Ebola have been detected and the patients transferred to hospital isolation, the BBC reported on April 4.
MSF Strengthens Response to Guinea Ebola Outbreak
“Our efforts are aimed at containing the outbreak, which is accomplished by detection of the sick and isolating them from the rest of the population,” says Anja Wolz, emergency coordinator in Conakry. “Although there is no cure for this disease, we can reduce its very high mortality by addressing the symptoms. This includes administering a drip to patients who have become dehydrated from diarrhea and by confirming that they do not have a different disease, such as malaria or a bacterial infection like typhoid.”
While the fatality rate of the Zaire strain of the Ebola virus, which is what has been detected in Guinea, can reach up to 90 percent, according to the World Health Organization, it varies according to the evolution of every outbreak. “We’ve learned from our previous experiences that we give patients 10 to 15 percent more chance to survive with good medical support,” says Michel Van Herp, MSF epidemiologist in eastern Guinea. “But if they stay at home, the fatality rate reaches generally up to 90 percent.”
More news:
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