Liberia and Guinea, with a basic number of 44 new cases and 21 deaths between July 6 and 8.
Ebola first appeared in 1976 in 2 simultaneous outbreaks, in Nzara, Sudan, and in Yambuku, Democratic Republic of Congo. Nzara was in a village situated near the Ebola River, from which the name of the disease was koined from.
Transmission of Ebola virus into the human population is through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals. In Africa, infection has been documented through the handling of infected chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest.
The recent spread in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea brought the total in West Africa’s first outbreak of the deadly disease to 888 cases,
including 539 deaths since February. According to the U.N agency which agreed that this is known as the largest and deadliest ever.
“The epidemic trend in Liberia and Sierra Leone remains precarious with high numbers of new cases
and deaths being reported,” the WHO said on
Friday.
Just one confirmed new case had been reported during the past week in Guinea.
Recently, The Economic Community of West African States (E.C.O.W.A.S) set up an Ebola solidarity fund at a summit in the capital of Ghana, Accra, on Thursday in a bid to back a regional approach to the epidemic.
Ebola causes fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhoea and kills up to 90 percent of those infected. It is highly contagious.
The WHO has flagged three main factors driving its
spread:
-The burial of victims in accordance with tradition,
- The dense populations around the capital cities of Guinea and Liberia
-The bustling cross-border trade across the region.
Posted from WordPress for Android
0 comments: