More than 1 million affected by Ebola outbreak: WHOWith
more than one million people affected by the current Ebola outbreak in
West Africa, the World Health Organisation has warned that there is "no
early end in sight" to the severe health crisis and called for
"extraordinary measures" to stop the transmission of the disease.
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According to the latest update issued by the World Health
Organisation, 128 new cases of Ebola virus disease, as well as 56
deaths, were reported from Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone
between August 10 and 11, bringing the total number of cases to 1,975
and deaths to 1,069.
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said more than one million people
are affected by the disease and these people need daily material
support, including food.
The infected people are in the "hot zone of disease transmission" on
the borders of the three countries most impacted by the disease. "There
is no early end (to the outbreak) in sight. This is an extraordinary
outbreak that requires extraordinary measures for containment. This is a
severe health crisis, and it can rapidly become a humanitarian crisis
if we do not do more to stop transmission," Chan said during a briefing
in Geneva on Wednesday.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon chaired a UN system-wide
coordination on Ebola and stressed the need for the entire UN system to
support the WHO's efforts in combating the outbreak.
Chan said the outbreak has placed every city with an international
airport at risk of an imported case. "Decisions to seal off the
hot zone of disease
transmission, that is, the area where the borders of Guinea, Liberia,
and Sierra Leone intersect, are critical for stopping the re-infection
of areas via the cross-border movement of people," she said.
Chan said that the isolation of the zone most affected by the outbreak has made it even more difficult for agencies, like MSF (Doctors without Borders), to bring in staff and supplies.
"The outbreak is unprecedented in its size, severity, and complexity.
Cases are occurring in remote rural areas that are difficult to access,
but also in capital cities," she said.
She also expressed concern over the "unprecedented" number of
health-care workers who have been infected by the virus. So far, nearly
170 health-care workers have been infected and more than 80 have died.
The outbreak is also having serious economic consequences on the
countries in the region, threatening to push these countries backwards
as airlines are cancelling flights and companies are moving their staff
out of the region.
"Six months into the outbreak, fear is proving to be the most
difficult barrier to overcome... Fear, and the hostility it can provoke,
have threatened the security of national and international response
teams," Chan said.
Ban appointed David Nabarro as senior United Nations system
coordinator for Ebola, in support of the work done by Chan and her team
to counter the outbreak, which the agency has designated a "public
health emergency of international concern."
Nabarro would be responsible for ensuring that the UN system makes an
effective and coordinated contribution to the global effort to control
the outbreak. Meanwhile, a 12-member ethics panel convened by WHO said
it is ethical to treat Ebola patients with experimental drugs to counter
the largest, most severe and most complex outbreak of the disease in
history.
On the operational side, WHO said it is finalising its strategic
operations response plan and expects to share it with countries and
partners in the coming days.
The UN health agency said that standard measures, like early
detection and isolation of cases, contact tracing and monitoring, and
rigorous procedures for infection control, have stopped previous Ebola
outbreaks including those in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, as well as Gabon.
The Ebola virus is highly contagious, but is not airborne.
Transmission requires close contact with the bodily fluids of an
infected person, as can occur during healthcare procedures, home care,
or traditional burial practices, which involve the close contact of
family members and friends with bodies.
Image: A man has
his temperature taken using an infrared digital laser thermometer at the
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja. Photograph: Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters
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