AFP Guinea confirms Ebola as source of deadly epidemic

Conakry (AFP) - Guinea identified the Ebola virus Saturday as the source of a highly contagious epidemic raging through its southern forests, as the death toll rose to 59.

Experts in the west African nation had been unable to identify the disease, whose symptoms -- diarrhoea, vomiting and bleeding -- were first observed six weeks ago, but scientists studying samples in the French city of Lyon confirmed it was Ebola, the Guinean health ministry said.

"The Ebola fever epidemic raging in southern Guinea, including the prefectures of Gueckedou and Macenta, since February 9 has left at least 59 dead out of 80 cases identified by our services on the ground," said Sakoba Keita, the ministry's chief disease prevention officer.

"We are overwhelmed in the field, we are fighting against this epidemic with all the means we have at out disposal with the help of our partners but it is difficult. But we will get there," he told AFP.

To date, no treatment or vaccine is available for Ebola, which kills between 25 and 90 percent of those who fall sick, depending on the strain of the virus, according to the World Health Organisation.

The disease is transmitted by direct contact with blood, faeces or sweat, or by sexual contact or unprotected handling of contaminated corpses.

Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said in a statement it would strengthen its team of 24 doctors, nurses, logisticians and experts in hygiene and sanitation already in Guinea.

The organisation has set up isolation units for suspected cases in the southern region of Nzerekore and is looking for people who may have had contact with the infected.

"These structures are essential to prevent the spread of the disease, which is highly contagious," said MSF tropical medicine adviser Esther Sterk said.

"Specialised staff are providing care to patients showing signs of infection."

MSF said it was sending around 33 tonnes of medicines and isolation, sanitation and protective equipment in two planes leaving from Belgium and France.

Ebola, one of the world's most virulent diseases, was first discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1976 and the country has had eight outbreaks.

The most recent epidemic, in the DRC, infected 62 people and left 34 dead between May and November 2012, according to the country's health ministry.

There are fears it could be used in a biological weapons attack.

According to researchers, the virus multiplies quickly, overwhelming the immune system's ability to fight the infection.

The French embassy in the Liberian capital Monrovia released a travel advisory warning French citizens against travel to the affected parts of Guinea or areas of northern Liberia near the border between the countries.

It said anyone who had to travel to southern Guinea should "strictly respect the hygiene rules, not consume the meat of animals killed by hunting and stay away from areas of high density of population like markets and football grounds".

A medic in Monrovia told AFP on condition of anonymity that Liberia was at considerable risk from the disease.

"We have a 90 percent chance of having cases in Monrovia because about 80 percent of goods on the Liberian market come from Guinea," he said.

By Daniel Flynn and Saliou Samb

DAKAR/CONAKRY Sat Mar 29, 2014 2:55pm EDT

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ELEANOR HALL: Panic is spreading in West Africa where an outbreak of ebola virus has killed around 80 people in Guinea, and is now spreading to neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia.

The deadly condition kills almost everyone it comes into contact with, as Africa correspondent Martin Cuddihy reports.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: It's one of the world's most deadly viruses.

Ebola causes vomiting, diarrhoea and severe internal and external bleeding.

As many as 90 per cent of the people who get the virus die. Because of that fatality rate, panic is following diagnosis in West Africa.

In the Guinean capital, one man confessed his fears as his wife was admitted to hospital.

GUINEAN MAN: I'm panicked; I'm very confused. Two days now, we are still on our legs. People are crying down at the hospital; they need help. They need the international help. Everybody is frightened, everybody. No-one, even the children.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: The disease has moved beyond the porous borders of Guinea to Sierra Leone, where 11 deaths have been confirmed.

And now it is spreading further. Ebola has reached Liberia.

The World Health Organization says there are now two confirmed cases in the Foya District.

Mariano Lugli from Medicines Sans Frontiers says it will be difficult to contain the spread.

MARIANO LUGLI (translation): People move a lot, so the people who are infected are in contact with other people, and our biggest problem at the moment is isolating the cases so we can put them all together in a specialist treatment unit, so they are isolated and can't infect other patients.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: Senegal has closed its border with Guinea to isolate itself from the threat.

More than 30 tonnes of medical supplies and equipment have been flown in to West Africa in the hope of containing the outbreak.

Doctors don't know, but they suspect the disease is passed on to humans from bats.

The government in Guinea has reacted, banning the sale and consumption of bats - a local delicacy.

MSF says there is no known cure or vaccination for ebola.

MARIANO LUGLI (translation): Every day we see pregnant women who lose their babies very early in their pregnancies. We see the families torn about, we see families who've been wiped out, because this disease is very contagious.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: Ebola disease is spread by close human contact.

In Guinea, the panic has reached such heights people are now actively avoiding the most basic of greetings, shaking hands.

In Nairobi, this is Martin Cuddihy for The World Today.

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Ebola outbreak 'most challenging' as Guinea deaths pass 100

There is no known cure or vaccine for Ebola

The number of people believed to have been killed by the Ebola virus in Guinea has passed 100, the UN World Health Organization says.

It was "one of the most challenging Ebola outbreaks we have ever dealt with" and could take another four months to contain, the WHO said.

The virus had now killed 101 people in Guinea and 10 in Liberia, it said.

Ebola is spread by close contact and kills between 25% and 90% of its victims.

Many West African states have porous borders, and people travel frequently between countries.

Southern Guinea is at the epicentre of the outbreak, with the first case reported last month.

The geographical spread of the outbreak is continuing to make it particularly challenging to contain - past outbreaks have involved much smaller areas.

"We fully expect to be engaged in this outbreak for the next two to three to four months before we are comfortable that we are through it," Keija Fukuda, WHO's assistant director-general, said at a news briefing in Geneva, Reuters news agency reports.

The WHO said 157 suspected cases had been recorded in Guinea, including 20 in the capital, Conakry.

Sixty-seven of the cases have been confirmed as Ebola, it added.

In neighbouring Liberia, 21 cases had been reported, with five confirmed as Ebola, WHO said.

Mali had reported nine suspected cases, but medical tests done so far showed that two of them did not have Ebola, it said.

Last week, Mali said it was on high alert because of fears of an outbreak of Ebola and it would tighten border controls.

Saudi Arabia has suspended visas for Muslim pilgrims from Guinea and Liberia, in a sign of the growing unease about the outbreak.

This is the first known outbreak in Guinea - most recent cases have been thousands of miles away in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

There is no known cure or vaccine for Ebola.

The tropical virus leads to haemorrhagic fever, causing muscle pain, weakness, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in severe cases, organ failure and unstoppable bleeding.