The recent Ebola disease outbreak in West
Africa proves to be a stubborn public health problem as health authorities
confirm two new deaths in Guinea and Sierra Leone.
by John
Tyburski
Copyright © Daily
Digest News, KPR Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
West Africa
is not known for Ebola outbreaks. Nations in this region are struggling to
contain their first ever outbreak of the viral disease that originated in
central and eastern African nations. The announcement this week of two new
fatalities caused by Ebola disease plus several more deaths suspected from
Ebola marked a grim setback in the effort to control the spread of the deadly
virus. Worse yet is the fact that the two new deaths are distant from the
origin site of the outbreak.
Health
officials in Guinea said Monday that at least one fatality was recorded in
Telimele, some 167 miles from where the outbreak began. They suspect as many as
eight deaths may be attributed to Ebola and that 86 people who may have been
exposed to the Ebola virus are under observation. Additional deaths at the
epicenter of the outbreak, Macenta, and in Telimele are under investigation for
an Ebola cause.
The Ebola
death toll for Guinea is highest and accounts for most of the 170 total
confirmed Ebola deaths. A few deaths have been reported in Liberia as well. The
death reported on Monday in Sierra Leone is the first confirmed case in this
nation and occurred near its border with Guinea, according to Dr. Amara Jambai,
Director of Guinea’s Disease Prevention and Control. Over 10 other deaths in
the same region are under investigation and may turn out to have been caused by
Ebola.
Ebola virus
disease, also called Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a deadly viral infection
that causes high fever and severe bleeding. Exposure occurs from contact with
infected blood or bodily fluids of monkeys or fruit bats as well as those of
infected humans. Ebola exhibits an incubation period of up to 21 days before
symptoms appear.
Those who
survive Ebola disease may transmit the virus for up to two months after
symptoms disappear. There is no vaccine or cure for Ebola.
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