In March this year, there were only about 80 individuals who have contracted the Ebola virus in Guinea but in less than five months, the number of cases has skyrocketed to more than 1,300 and the disease, which has a fatality rate of 60 to 90 percent, has now affected three other countries in West Africa including Liberia, Sierra Leone and just this July, Nigeria.
As of July 27, figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that there are now a total of 1,323 Ebola patients this year, 729 of whom have died of the disease and the United Nations agency has expressed concern that the virus is spreading too fast.
On Friday, WHO said that the disease is getting out of control and that stronger measures are needed to control it. In a meeting with the presidents of affected countries Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, in Guinea's capital city of Conakry, WHO director Margaret Chan said that the Ebola virus is outpacing efforts to control it and warned that if the situation continues to worsen, it could have serious implications.
"First, this outbreak is moving faster than our efforts to control it," Chan said. "If the situation continues to deteriorate, the consequences can be catastrophic in terms of lost lives but also severe socioeconomic disruption and a high risk of spread to other countries."
Chan also said that while the hemorrhagic fever currently only affects West Africa, the outbreak is also an international concern that needs to be given urgent priority. The WHO director pointed out that viruses and other bacteria constantly mutate and adapt to survive so the Ebola virus should not be given opportunity to deliver more surprises.
In an optimistic note, the WHO chief said that although the Ebola is infectious, it is not airborne and requires close contacts with the bodily fluids of infected patients and dead bodies which means that the general population is not in a high risk of contracting the disease.
She also said that despite that vaccine and treatment are not yet available, it is still possible to contain the outbreak with early detection and isolation of patients who contracted the disease, contact tracing and monitoring, and through rigorous methods of controlling infection. Chan also said individuals who contracted the disease have chances to survive as they have found evidence that show early detection and providing early supportive therapy can increase patients' chances of survival.
