The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is getting worse and it now threatens those who live beyond the currently affected areas.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that there are 50 additional cases of Ebola and 25 Ebola-related deaths in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia since July 3. The United Nations agency said in an update that since the epidemic started, the affected countries had 844 reported cases of Ebola and 518 deaths.
The Health Ministry of Guinea said the country had two deaths since July 3 but no new cases of Ebola. Liberia, on the other hand, had 14 new cases and 9 deaths, and Sierra Leone had 34 new cases and 14 deaths, figures that, according to WHO, show that active viral transmission is still going on.
Luis Gomes Sambo, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, said during the Emergency Ministerial Meeting in Accra, Ghana on July 2 that cultural practices and traditional beliefs have significant impact on the continued spread of the virus as these often contradict with recommended measures for preventing transmission. How people move within and across borders also influence the rapid spread of the disease.
From July 2 to 3, representatives from WHO and international organizations as well as health ministers from 11 countries convened in an Emergency Ministerial meeting to control the ongoing epidemic and agreed on new measures and strategies to combat the spread of the disease.
The current Ebola epidemic is now considered as the worst outbreak in history. The number of cases has increased from 635 on June 23 to 844 as of WHO's latest update. The number of deaths also increased from 399 to 518 in a matter of two weeks. As the outbreak becomes worse, there are concerns that Ebola may spread beyond West Africa.
"I think it's perfectly possible that someone could arrive from an infected area on a plane, particularly from the capital of Guinea or Liberia where there have been a number of cases of the disease," said Derek Gatherer, from the Lancaster University in the UK. "Both have flight links from Europe."
WHO spokesman Fadela Chaib said that transmission of Ebola in several hotspots in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea needs to be stopped or it would be difficult to contain the disease. "If we don't stop the transmission in the several hotspots in the three countries we will not be able to say that we control the outbreak," Chaib said.
Ebola is a highly contagious viral disease with fatality rate of up to 90 percent. The disease spreads through direct contact with tissues and body fluids of infected individuals.
