Scale of Ebola Outbreak Alarms Aid Groups
Medical charity and aid groups are raising alarms about Guinea's ongoing Ebola outbreak, warning international powers that its unusual size and prevalence is not to be taken lightly.
Ebola is one of the world's most deadly infectious diseases, with no known cure or vaccination. Ebola, which is virus borne, spreads through close contact and causes hemorrhagic fever - which results in death 80 to 90 percent of the time, according to the World Health Organization.
Seventy-eight people have already died from what Guinea officials are calling the first Ebola outbreak in the county's history. While international officials say that this is not necessarily true - Ebola is common enough in remote parts of Central and West Africa - this current outbreak has spread and grown to an uniquely large scale.
One of the organizations leading the aid efforts in Guinea, Medecins San Frontieres (MSF), released a statement on Monday, calling the Ebola outbreak "unprecedented" and very difficult to contain.
Recent WHO and local Guinea reports have shown that the outbreak, whichoriginated from the consumption of bats and was isolated to remote South Guinea villages, has now spread to the heavily populated seaside city of Conakry. This is of great worry to Guinea and international officials alike, as the city is home to approximately two million people and consistently trades with bordering countries at risk of their own outbreak.
According to a Reuters report, Mariano Lugli, the coordinator of MSF's containment project in Conakry, this latest development throws a significant wrench into the organization's efforts and strategy to limit the virus's spread.
The bordering country of Liberia has already reported seven deaths associated with Ebola exposure as of last week. Sierra Leone has also reported an unspecified number of suspected Ebola infections.
Ebola, which is currently also affecting Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, is commonly found in remote parts of central and West Africa, particularly near tropical rainforests. Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are considered to be the natural host of the Ebola virus.
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