Ebola Spread Speed Alarming - WHO
Ebola 'moving faster than efforts to control it': WHO
Conakry (AFP) - The World
Health Organization warned west Africa's Ebola-hit nations on Friday
that the epidemic was spiralling out of control and could spread to
other countries, causing "catastrophic" loss of life and severe economic
disruption.
WHO chief
Margaret Chan told the leaders of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia at a
regional summit the response to the epidemic had been "woefully
inadequate", revealing that the outbreak was "moving faster than our
efforts to control it".
The
plan will also bolster efforts to prevent and detect suspected cases,
urge better border surveillance, and reinforce WHO's sub-regional
outbreak coordination centre in Guinea.
"If
the situation continues to deteriorate, the consequences can be
catastrophic in terms of lost lives but also severe socio-economic
disruption and a high risk of spread to other countries," Chan said.
She described the outbreak as "by far the largest ever in the nearly four-decade history of this disease".
"It
is taking place in areas with fluid population movements over porous
borders, and it has demonstrated its ability to spread via air travel,
contrary to what has been seen in past outbreaks," she told the summit.
"Cases
are occurring in rural areas which are difficult to access, but also in
densely populated capital cities. This meeting must mark a turning
point in the outbreak response."
The
meeting came after Dubai's Emirates became the first global airline to
announce it was suspending flights to the stricken area while the United
States, Germany and France issued warnings against travel to the three
African countries.
Meanwhile
Nigeria quarantined two people who had "primary contact" with a man who
died of Ebola in Lagos last week as west Africa battled to tame the
outbreak.
The WHO raised the
death toll by 57 to 729 on Thursday, announcing that 122 new cases had
been detected between Thursday and Sunday last week, bringing the total
to more than 1,300.
"Current
numbers of national and international response staff are woefully
inadequate," Chan said, revealing that 60 health workers had died
treating patients in the outbreak.
- 'Nearing catastrophe' -
Sierra
Leone's leader Ernest Bai Koroma has announced a state of emergency,
quarantining Ebola-hit areas and cancelling foreign trips by ministers,
while Liberia has closed all of its schools and put government workers
on leave.
Liberian President
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf warned ahead of the summit that the crisis was
"nearing a catastrophe" and appealed for more doctors and supplies.
Early
denial about the dangers of the contagious disease among Liberians has
now "turned into fear and panic" she told CNN television.
"There
are dead bodies all over the place and they now know that it's real.
They know that it's deadly and they are now beginning to respond,"
Sirleaf said.
The summit marks
the first time heads of state in west Africa have met specifically to
discuss a joint response to the crisis, although Ebola has come up at a
previous regional meeting.
As a
member of the Mano River Union bloc which groups the nations, Ivory
Coast is also represented, by Health Minister Raymonde Goudou Coffie,
although it has yet to register any Ebola cases.
Ebola, which has no vaccine, causes severe muscular pains, fever, headaches and, in the worst cases, unstoppable bleeding.
It
has killed around two-thirds of those it has infected since its
emergence in 1976, with two outbreaks registering case fatality rates
approaching 90 percent.
The death rate in the current outbreak is a lower-than-average 55 percent.
Fears
that it could spread to other continents through air travel have been
growing, with European and Asian countries on alert alongside African
countries outside the Ebola crisis zone.
In
Britain, Sierra Leone cyclist Moses Sesay was quarantined and tested
for Ebola at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, before being given the
all-clear, the athlete told a British newspaper.
Elsewhere
in Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia and Democratic Republic of Congo, home to
some of the continent's largest transport hubs, said they had enhanced
screening at border points and airports.
Pan-African
airlines Arik and ASKY have halted flights to and from Liberia and
Sierra Leone, while Asia-Pacific nations from Hong Kong to Australia
have announced tighter security measures at airports, some warning
against travel to the Ebola-hit countries.
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