2014-07-30 17:21:00

Ebola virus claims nearly 700 lives in west Africa


(Vatican Radio) The Ebola virus has killed nearly seven hundred people in west Africa, since the most recent outbreak of the deadly disease began in February of this year. Government officials in the UK held an emergency meeting on the crisis on Wednesday, following a public health warning earlier in the month. The recently-appointed Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, chaired the meeting, after which he told reporters the government sees the disease as a “very serious threat” even though there are at present no known cases in Britain.

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In the west African nations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where the outbreak began and has hit hardest, international health experts are partnering with local medical professionals, civil authorities and community leaders to thwart the spread of the virus and to treat people already suffering. The regional communication specialist for the West and Central Africa office of the United Nations’ Chidren’s Fund – UNICEF – Laurent Duvillier explained that women are especially vulnerable to infection. “Women are often the ones who attend and look after the people – those infected – at  at home,” Duvillier said, adding, “they are the ones in contact,” with patients, and therefore particularly at risk of infection themselves.

Ebola has no cure, and the disease’s mortality rate approaches sixty percent. Ebola’s incubation period runs from two to twenty-one days. The virus spreads by way of direct contact with the blood, bodily fluids, and tissues of infected people and animals. The WHO reports, “Burial ceremonies in which mourners have direct contact with the body of the deceased person can also play a role in the transmission of Ebola,” making safe disposal of remains both extremely important and potentially dangerous.








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