Only last week, Medicines Sans Frontieres, an aid organization that has always been at the forefront of emerging epidemics in Africa, and in particular of Ebola outbreaks, sounded the alarm on the new spread of Ebola in Guinea and neighboring countries.
At the basis of the alarm that the aid organization has raised, is the fact that this Ebola outbreak is particularly menacing from many standpoints. It is an epidemic of the most virulent and deadly of the Ebola strains first and foremost but also, a lax attitude on the part of the Guinea government has allowed the deadly disease to spread beyond its ground zero area to a wide net of cities and now, seemingly, countries.
The reason for its spread, is due to first initial cases which were not confirmed as Ebola for almost six weeks. If the Guinean authorities had immediately raised the possibility of an Ebola outbreak, the aid agencies and local health authority could have easily contained the disease, because Ebola, in general, kills faster than most other similar pathogens, theyreby petering out in situ before it can be cast widely.
Unfortunately, because Guinea is not usually a location where Ebola is common, the authorities have neglected to pursue the line of investigation regarding the outbreak that it truly merited.
After spreading to countries that have contiguous borders and to areas that are transit avenues for people who came from Ebola affected areas in Guinea, the infectious disease is now suspected to have spread as far afield as Mali.
This latest development raises the question of how quickly this strain can be contained, but also whether it has gained the ability to spread better and faster. Ebola is not a disease that can be passed on in aerosol form, or from breathing on a person, so that its outbreaks can usually be contained by quarantine of the subjects that have come in contact directly with the victims of the outbreaks and those who show signs of the infection.
Transit checkpoints have been established in a handful of airports and other cross border hotspots. The thermal imaging cameras placed at those points should capture the possible victims of the disease if they exhibit fever. But the problem is that many of the people who have carried the disease outside of Guinea so far, are migrant workers who do most of their transiting on foot, or other undetectable mean.
Even more disturbing, an Air France airliner had to be quarantined in Paris after a passenger was thought to be feverish. The plane had originated in Guinea. That turned out to be a false alarm, but it is indicative of the measures already taken by foreign countries.
Senegal is another country at high risk for the spread of the outbreak, since it is the country with the most cross border traffic with Guinea.
The new suspected focus of the possible spread of the epidemic is Bamako in Mali, a large city that is somewhat proximal to Guinea's border. Although the trhee suspected cases there have already been placed in quarantine and tested, the discovery of an ever wider range of the outbreak is worrying many experts who have dealt with the deadly disease before.
The infectious disease has prompted international awareness, with Saudi Arabia even revoking visas or permits for Hajj pilgrimage for any Muslim traveler originating from the affected countries in Africa.
Ebola has no known cure, nor a vaccine. In this case, the Ebola strain is one of the deadliest with a rate of death of almost 90%.
In the meantime, the toll of the epidemic has risen to 84 deaths and 134 cases.
In LIberia, a first confirmed case is baffling researchers on the grounds, since the man afflicted with the disease had no contact with anyone who has contracted the disease, and is in an area far from where some of the outbreaks have been confirmed. In this case, the man was dead after only 30 minutes of reaching the hospital.
The World Health Organization is providing logistical support for the local authorities and international aid agencies.
According to the WHO the following is the list of cases and locations as of 4.2.14:
The current number of clinical cases by place of report is Conakry (12 cases, including 4 deaths), Guekedou (79 cases/57 deaths), Macenta (23 cases/14 deaths), Kissidougou (9 cases/5 deaths), and Dabola and Djingaraye combined (4 cases/3 deaths). Eleven of the cases in Conakry have been laboratory confirmed for Ebola virus disease (EVD). Fourteen health care workers have also been laboratory confirmed for EVD, 8 of whom have died. Case investigation and contact tracing are continuing, with 375 contacts under medical follow-up at present.
The above report does not take into account the latest cases recorded since April 2nd however. Those will be included in the next bulletin.
The above report does not take into account the latest cases recorded since April 2nd however. Those will be included in the next bulletin.
Partial Sources: RT/ABC/BBC/Who/MSF: 4.4.14
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