WHO: Ebola Spreading Too Fast, 'Catastrophic'
Guinea's Prime Minister Mohamed Said Fofana, left, and
World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan attend the opening
Friday of a summit on the fast-growing outbreak of the Ebola virus in West
Africa. (Getty Images)
Saturday, 02 Aug 2014 07:08 AM
CONAKRY, Guinea
— An Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 700 people in West Africa is
moving faster than efforts to control the disease, the head of the World Health Organization warned as
presidents from the affected countries met Friday in Guinea's capital.
Dr. Margaret Chan, the WHO's director-general, said the
meeting in Conakry "must be a turning point" in the battle against
Ebola, which is now sickening people in three African capitals for the first
time in history.
"If the situation continues
to deteriorate, the consequences can be catastrophic in terms of lost lives but
also severe socio-economic disruption and a high risk of spread to other
countries," she said, as the WHO formally launched a $100 million response
plan that includes deploying hundreds more health care workers.
Medecins Sans Frontieres, also
known as Doctors Without Borders,
said the WHO pledge "needs to translate to immediate and effective
action." While the group has deployed some 550 health workers, it said it
did not have the resources to expand further.
Doctors Without Borders said its
teams are overwhelmed with new Ebola patients in Sierra Leone and
that the situation in Liberia
is now "dire."
"Over the last weeks, there
has been a significant surge in the epidemic - the number of cases has
increased dramatically in Sierra Leone and Liberia, and the disease has spread
to many more villages and towns," the organization said in a statement.
"After a lull in new cases in Guinea, there has been a resurgence
in infections and deaths in the past week."
At least 729 people have died
since cases first emerged in March: 339 in Guinea,
233 in Sierra Leone, 156 in Liberia and one in Nigeria.
Two American health workers in Liberia have been infected, and an American man
of Liberian descent died in Nigeria
from the disease, health authorities there say.
Plans were underway to bring the
two American aid workers — Nancy Writebol and Dr. Kent Brantly — back to the U.S. A small
private jet based in Atlanta has been dispatched
to Liberia.
Officials said the jet was outfitted with a special, portable tent designed for
transporting patients with highly infectious diseases.
While health officials say the
virus is transmitted only through direct contact with bodily fluids, many sick
patients have refused to go to isolation centers and have infected family
members and other caregivers.
The fatality rate has been about
60 percent, and the scenes of patients bleeding from the eyes, mouth and ears
has led many relatives to keep their sick family members at home instead. Sierra Leone is
now sending teams door-to-door in search of Ebola patients and others who have
been exposed to the disease.
Chan emphasized Friday that the
general public "is not at high risk of infection," but also said the
Ebola virus should not be allowed to circulate widely.
"Constant mutation and
adaptation are the survival mechanisms of viruses and other microbes," she
said. "We must not give this virus opportunities to deliver more
surprises."
Randy Schoepp, chief of
diagnostics at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases,
which is running the only lab in Liberia testing Ebola samples,
said: "The virus is getting to large, dense, city areas. We're now getting
samples (to test) from all over."
But he said he thinks "we're
only seeing a small portion of the cases out there," partly because many
drivers are scared to transport vials of blood that may contain Ebola to the
lab.
Other countries are taking
precautions to prevent the spread of Ebola.
The African Union mission in Somalia
canceled a planned troop rotation by Sierra Leonean forces in an effort to
prevent Ebola from crossing into the Horn of Africa country, the military said.
Seychelles forfeited an African Cup qualifying game and withdrew from
the competition Thursday rather than allow Sierra
Leone's soccer team to travel to the Indian
Ocean island. And a cyclist from Sierra Leone competed in the
Commonwealth Games after testing negative for Ebola.
Nigeria's minister of health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, said Thursday the
government has located 10 more people who had primary contact with the man who
flew to Lagos,
and died there because of Ebola. The government is tracking down the remaining
people who had contact with him, he said. As of Friday, 69 people are under
surveillance and two are quarantined, Chukwu said.
President Barack Obama said the United States is taking precautions for next
week's U.S.-African summit in Washington.
Administration officials said the leaders of Liberia
and Sierra Leone had
canceled their trip to Washington
for the gathering of African leaders.
Meanwhile, families in the United States expect to be reunited as early as
this weekend with some of the more than 300 Peace Corps volunteers evacuated
from West Africa as a precaution.
"We did really have faith in
the Peace Corps that if things would become dangerous they would do what
they're now doing," said Mirna Jope of Carmichael,
California, whose 25-year-old son called home
Thursday after learning he would be leaving Sierra Leone.
A Peace Corps spokeswoman said the
organization is working to bring the volunteers home as quickly as possible.
The group's medical officers are assessing volunteers before their departure as
a precaution. The organization is advising them to monitor their health,
including checking their temperature twice daily per Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention guidelines. The medical officers will check with
returning volunteers and be on call if they experience symptoms or have
concerns.
Two workers who have been exposed
to the virus still were being monitored.
"The two Peace Corps volunteers who have had contact with an individual who
later died of the virus are not symptomatic and are currently isolated and
under observation," said spokeswoman Shira Kramer. "When they receive
medical clearance for return to the U.S., we will work with them to
travel safely back."
World Health Organization
Jim Yong
Kim was a director, HIV-AIDS department for the World Health
Organization (WHO), and a guest at George Soros’s 2013 wedding.
Note: Liberia is a member
of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf is the president of Liberia,
and a guest at George Soros’s 2013 wedding.
George Soros
was married in 2013, the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open
Society, and the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Millennium Promise, and the International
Rescue Committee.
Stewart J.
Paperin is a director at the Millennium
Promise, and the president, Soros Economic Development Fund for the Open Society Foundations.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for Doctors
Without Borders.
Jolie/Pitt
Foundation was a funder for Doctors
Without Borders.
Angelina
Jolie is a co-founder for the Jolie/Pitt
Foundation, and was a director at the Millennium
Promise.
Jimmy
Carter was an honorary co-chairman for the Millennium Promise, and Chris
Matthews was his speechwriter.
Chris
Matthews was Jimmy Carter’s speechwriter,
and served in Swaziland
for the Peace Corps.
Swaziland
is a member of the World Trade Organization
(WHO).
Alan
R. Batkin is a director at the Millennium
Promise, and an overseer at the International
Rescue Committee.
International
Rescue Committee is a partner with the ONE
Campaign.
ONE
Campaign is a partner with the International
Rescue Committee, and Africare.
Michelle
Obama is an advocate for the ONE
Campaign.
Barack
Obama contributed $100,000 of Nobel Prize money to Africare.
June Carter
Perry is a director at Africare,
and was a U.S. ambassador
for Sierra Leone.
Sierra
Leone is a member of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Jim Yong
Kim was a director, HIV-AIDS department for the World Health
Organization, and a guest at George Soros’s 2013 wedding.
Liberia
is a member of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf is the president of Liberia,
and a guest at George Soros’s 2013 wedding.
George Soros
was married in 2013, the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open
Society, and the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Millennium Promise, and the International
Rescue Committee.
Stewart J.
Paperin is a director at the Millennium
Promise, and the president, Soros Economic Development Fund for the Open Society Foundations.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for Doctors
Without Borders.
Jolie/Pitt
Foundation was a funder for Doctors
Without Borders.
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