2014 West Africa Ebola virus outbreak An epidemic of Ebola virus disease (EVD) is ongoing in West Africa. The outbreak is caused by one of the ebolaviruses, called simply, Ebola virus (EBOV). It is the most severe outbreak of Ebola yet recorded in regard to the number of human cases and fatalities, since records began in 1976.The outbreak began in Guinea in December 2013 but was not detected until March 2014, after which it spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. In August 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported a total to date of 1,975 suspected cases and 1,069 deaths (1,176 cases and 660 deaths being laboratory confirmed),and formally designated the outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern.[5] This is a legal designation used only twice before (for the 2009 H1N1 (Swine Flu) pandemic and the 2014 resurgence of polio) and invokes legal measures on disease prevention, surveillance, control, and response, by 194 signatory countries. Various aid organisations and international bodies, including the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the European Commission have donated funds and mobilised personnel to help counter the outbreak; charities including Médecins Sans Frontières, the Red Cross,and Samaritans Purse are also working in the area. Countries with active local transmission Countries with active transmissions, as of 9 August 2014. The national authorities of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia have activated their national emergency committees, prepared Ebola virus disease response plans, and carried out needs assessments. WHOs Regional Director for Africa, Luis Sambo, visited the affected countries from 21 to 25 July, meeting with political leaders, ministers of health, NGOs, and other agencies. He stressed the need to promote behavioural change while respecting cultural practices. Cordon sanitaire, a disease fighting practise, by isolating affected regions, was established in August, covering the area where 70% of the cases were reported. Fatality rate See also: Ebola virus disease § Prognosis The infection and mortality data from Guinea, where new infections had slowed considerably by 18 June, indicated a fatality rate of about 64%, which includes also cases of probable and suspected Ebola infections, as reported by the World Health Organization.Guinea and WHO disagree on patient data, including mortality data. The Case Fatality Rate has been described as unreliable, given differences in testing policies, the inclusion of probable and suspected cases and the rate of new cases. Complications in containment efforts Difficulties faced in attempting to contain the outbreak include the outbreaks multiple locations across country borders,[ inadequate equipment given to medical personnel, funeral practices such as washing a body, and reluctance among country people to follow preventive practices, including freeing suspected Ebola patients from isolation. Rumours and denial Denial in some affected countries, such as Sierra Leone, have made containment efforts often more difficult.Language barriers and the look of medical teams in protective suits sometimes exaggerated fears of the virus.There are reports where some people believe that the disease is caused by sorcery and that doctors are killing patients. In late July, the former Liberian health minister Peter Coleman stated that people dont seem to believe anything the government now says. Healthcare workers Several healthcare workers have been infected. Among the fatalities is Samuel Brisbane, a former advisor to the Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare whom British newspaper The Guardian described as one of Liberias most high-profile doctors. Two American aid workers at a treatment center in Monrovia run by Serving In Mission /Samaritans Purse have also been infected. On 2 August, Kent Brantly, one of the two workers, was flown into Atlantas Emory University Hospital for treatment, making him the first patient infected with Ebola Virus Disease in the United States. On 29 July, leading Ebola doctor Sheik Umar Khan from Sierra Leone died in the outbreak. There was also an attack on aid workers who were hurrying to retrieve freed patients, and did not explain to villagers who they were, and the Red Cross were forced to suspend operations in Guinea after staff were threatened by a group of men armed with knives. Demonstrations outside the main hospital treating Ebola patients in Kenema, Sierra Leone, on 25 July were broken up by police. Response by organisations Airlines Arik Air, Nigerias main airline, has stopped flying to Liberia and Sierra Leone. On 5 August, British Airways suspended all flights to and from Liberia and Sierra Leone, until the end of the month. US Centers for Disease Control By the beginning of August, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control had placed staff in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Nigeria to assist the local Ministries of Health and WHO-led response to the outbreak. On 6 August, the Centers for Disease Control moved its Ebola response to Level 1 (the highest on a scale from 1 to 6) to increase the agencys ability to respond to the outbreak. Tom Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control, stated: The bottom line with Ebola is we know how to stop it: traditional public health. Find patients, isolate and care for them; find their contacts; educate people; and strictly follow infection control in hospitals. Do those things with meticulous care and Ebola goes away. Médecins Sans Frontières The humanitarian aid organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) has a team of 676 staff working in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, and has set up several specialist centers to give medical care to affected people.On 8th August MSF declared that it had reached the limit of its capacity. Samaritans Purse Samaritans Purse is also providing direct patient care in multiple locations in Liberia. At a congressional committee hearing on 7 August 2014, the head of Samaritans Purse stated that The disease is uncontained and out of control in West Africa. World Health Organization WHOs Regional Director for Africa, Luis Sambo, visited the affected countries from 21 to 25 July, meeting with political leaders, ministers of health, NGOs, and other agencies. He stressed the need to promote behavioural change while respecting cultural practices.]On 24 July, WHOs Director General met with agencies and donors in Geneva to facilitate an increase in funding and manpower to respond to the outbreak. WHO declared the outbreak an international public health emergency on 8 August 2014, after a two-day teleconference of experts. OpenStreetMap The OpenStreetMap community gathers thousands of contributors from around the world via the Internet to produce a free map of the world and various OpenData extraction services. From mid-March, the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, in coordination with CartONG / MSF and the Red Cross, has partnered with the OpenstreetMap community. From July, contacts were established with the World Health Organization, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention representatives. At the beginning of August, more than 700 contributors had produced detailed maps of the West Africa zones affected by the Ebola epidemic. These maps covered 24,000 square km (155 km x 155 km). Following the WHOs declaration of an international public health emergency, new Tasking Manager Projects were added to map new territories, starting with Monrovia, which has been severely affected by the epidemic
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 22:42:08 +0000
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