Médecins Sans Frontières: Guinea Ebola outbreak ‘unprecedented’
Because the Ebola outbreak in Guinea has spread to the capital of Conakry and is found in several other locations, this has prompted the humanitarian organization, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to describe it as “unprecendented”, according to a press release today.
Photo/CDC
“We are facing an epidemic of a magnitude never before seen in terms of the distribution of cases in the country: Gueckedou, Macenta Kissidougou, Nzerekore, and now Conakry,” said Mariano Lugli, coordinator of MSF’s project in Conakry.
“MSF has intervened in almost all reported Ebola outbreaks in recent years, but they were much more geographically contained and involved more remote locations. This geographical spread is worrisome because it will greatly complicate the tasks of the organisations working to control the epidemic,” said Lugli.
MSF health workers, experienced with dealing with Ebola and equipment stream into west Africa as they attempt to get the disease under control.
With Ebola, this can only be done with containment and isolation to break chain of transmission.
“To stop the outbreak, it is important to trace the chain of transmission. All contacts of patients likely to have been contaminated should be monitored and isolated at the first sign of infection.”
To date, Guinean health authorities have recorded 122 suspected patients and 78 deaths. Other cases, suspected or diagnosed, were found in Sierra Leone and Liberia.
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