by By Maria Cheng
In this photo taken on Monday, March 2, 2015, a health care worker prepares a colleague's Ebola virus protective gear at an Ebola virus clinic operated by the International Medical Corps in Makeni, Sierra Leone. The World Health Organization says Thursday, March 12, 2015, its tally of Ebola deaths has passed the grim milestone of 10,000, mostly in West Africa. (AP Photo/ Michael Duff)
The World Health Organization marked a grim milestone Thursday in the biggest-ever Ebola outbreak, estimating that the virus had killed over 10,000 people, mostly in the West African nations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Fifteen other Ebola deaths also occurred in Mali, Nigeria and the United States.
When Ebola was first detected in March 2014 in Guinea's forest, officials assumed the deadly virus could quickly be stamped out, just as it had in more than two dozen previous outbreaks, mostly in central and eastern Africa. But health officials now acknowledge they were too slow to respond to this emergency, allowing Ebola to cross porous borders in a region where broken health systems were unable to stop its spread.
A huge global response—including soldiers sent by Britain, the U.S. and other nations—has slowed the deaths from Ebola dramatically, especially Liberia, but the virus appears stubbornly entrenched in parts of Guinea and Sierra Leone.
A look at the Ebola outbreak:
___
WORLD HEALTH EMERGENCY
WHO declared Ebola an international health emergency in August—but critics have slammed the agency for waiting until there were nearly 1,000 deaths to do so. WHO recently announced it was forming an independent expert panel to assess its response. Ebola cases also emerged elsewhere in Africa, including Nigeria, Senegal and Mali, and small outbreaks were later identified in the U.S. and Spain.
___
WHERE THINGS STAND: LIBERIA
In this photo taken on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015, a boy listens to school classes broadcast over the radio, due to the Ebola virus outbreak in Sierra Leone school's across the country have been closed in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The World Health Organization says Thursday, March 12, 2015, its tally of Ebola deaths has passed the grim milestone of 10,000, mostly in West Africa. (AP Photo/ Michael Duff)
Liberia, once the hardest-hit country in the Ebola outbreak, released its last Ebola patient on March 5. It has now begun a 42-day countdown and if no new cases are found in that period, it will be declared Ebola-free according to WHO standards. To mark the epidemic's downturn, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf re-opened the country's borders with neighboring countries. Ambulances in Liberia have also been dispatched to help stop Ebola in Sierra Leone and the government recently bought a 25-acre plot of land outside the capital to bury Ebola victims
___
WHERE THINGS STAND: GUINEA AND SIERRA LEONE
Both Guinea and Sierra Leone are still reporting dozens of new cases every week and the number of Ebola deaths taking place outside of hospitals remains high, suggesting that people are wary of seeking help or are hiding cases. In both countries there are still regular attacks against Western aid workers and officials are unable to track where the Ebola virus is spreading.
___
TRACKING THE TRANSMISSION
Dr. Bruce Aylward, who is leading WHO's Ebola response, said scientists have sometimes been tracking the wrong people when looking for potential Ebola cases.
"It's like one of those bank robber movies where the car comes out and everyone follows the wrong car," he said.
In this photo taken on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015, a man stand near his home next to a board stating that his home is under quarantine, twenty one days are the quarantine time, due to the Ebola virus in the Kambia district, in Kambia, Sierra Leone. The World Health Organization says Thursday, March 12, 2015, its tally of Ebola deaths has passed the grim milestone of 10,000, mostly in West Africa. (AP Photo/ Michael Duff)
He noted that West Africa's upcoming rainy season—beginning in April—may make it difficult to get into remote areas. He said last year's rainy season was when Ebola began to explode, but experts are still not sure why.
"We don't know if the rainy season in some way affected behavior in the way people moved or how the virus spread," Aylward said. "But I don't want to do that natural experiment."
___
A LEAP AHEAD FOR VACCINES
In this photo taken Thursday Nov. 20, 2014, Kissi Dembadouno sits in his home after he lost his wife, daughter and two grandchildren to the Ebola virus, in the Guinean village of Meliandou, some 400 miles (600 kms) south-east of Conakry, Guinea. The World Health Organization says Thursday, March 12, 2015, its tally of Ebola deaths has passed the grim milestone of 10,000, mostly in West Africa. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay,File)
The outbreak has had one silver lining—it has sped up the development of Ebola vaccines and treatments, something researchers have been working on for years.
WHO and its partners have already started testing two experimental shots, including a recently launched large-scale study to see if a vaccine can help protect people already exposed to the lethal virus but who haven't yet developed the disease. Even though the vaccine may come too late to make a difference to this Ebola outbreak, it could prove invaluable later.
"If we (have) a vaccine stockpile for the future, we might be able to prevent (future outbreaks) from turning into what has happened in West Africa," said Sebastian Funk, an infectious diseases expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Explore further: No new Ebola cases in Liberia for more than two weeks: WHO
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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© Medical Xpress 2011-2014, Science X network
by By Maria Cheng
In this photo taken on Monday, March 2, 2015, a health care worker prepares a colleague's Ebola virus protective gear at an Ebola virus clinic operated by the International Medical Corps in Makeni, Sierra Leone. The World Health Organization says Thursday, March 12, 2015, its tally of Ebola deaths has passed the grim milestone of 10,000, mostly in West Africa. (AP Photo/ Michael Duff)
The World Health Organization marked a grim milestone Thursday in the biggest-ever Ebola outbreak, estimating that the virus had killed over 10,000 people, mostly in the West African nations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Fifteen other Ebola deaths also occurred in Mali, Nigeria and the United States.
When Ebola was first detected in March 2014 in Guinea's forest, officials assumed the deadly virus could quickly be stamped out, just as it had in more than two dozen previous outbreaks, mostly in central and eastern Africa. But health officials now acknowledge they were too slow to respond to this emergency, allowing Ebola to cross porous borders in a region where broken health systems were unable to stop its spread.
A huge global response—including soldiers sent by Britain, the U.S. and other nations—has slowed the deaths from Ebola dramatically, especially Liberia, but the virus appears stubbornly entrenched in parts of Guinea and Sierra Leone.
A look at the Ebola outbreak:
___
WORLD HEALTH EMERGENCY
WHO declared Ebola an international health emergency in August—but critics have slammed the agency for waiting until there were nearly 1,000 deaths to do so. WHO recently announced it was forming an independent expert panel to assess its response. Ebola cases also emerged elsewhere in Africa, including Nigeria, Senegal and Mali, and small outbreaks were later identified in the U.S. and Spain.
___
WHERE THINGS STAND: LIBERIA
In this photo taken on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015, a boy listens to school classes broadcast over the radio, due to the Ebola virus outbreak in Sierra Leone school's across the country have been closed in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The World Health Organization says Thursday, March 12, 2015, its tally of Ebola deaths has passed the grim milestone of 10,000, mostly in West Africa. (AP Photo/ Michael Duff)
Liberia, once the hardest-hit country in the Ebola outbreak, released its last Ebola patient on March 5. It has now begun a 42-day countdown and if no new cases are found in that period, it will be declared Ebola-free according to WHO standards. To mark the epidemic's downturn, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf re-opened the country's borders with neighboring countries. Ambulances in Liberia have also been dispatched to help stop Ebola in Sierra Leone and the government recently bought a 25-acre plot of land outside the capital to bury Ebola victims
___
WHERE THINGS STAND: GUINEA AND SIERRA LEONE
Both Guinea and Sierra Leone are still reporting dozens of new cases every week and the number of Ebola deaths taking place outside of hospitals remains high, suggesting that people are wary of seeking help or are hiding cases. In both countries there are still regular attacks against Western aid workers and officials are unable to track where the Ebola virus is spreading.
___
TRACKING THE TRANSMISSION
Dr. Bruce Aylward, who is leading WHO's Ebola response, said scientists have sometimes been tracking the wrong people when looking for potential Ebola cases.
"It's like one of those bank robber movies where the car comes out and everyone follows the wrong car," he said.
In this photo taken on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015, a man stand near his home next to a board stating that his home is under quarantine, twenty one days are the quarantine time, due to the Ebola virus in the Kambia district, in Kambia, Sierra Leone. The World Health Organization says Thursday, March 12, 2015, its tally of Ebola deaths has passed the grim milestone of 10,000, mostly in West Africa. (AP Photo/ Michael Duff)
He noted that West Africa's upcoming rainy season—beginning in April—may make it difficult to get into remote areas. He said last year's rainy season was when Ebola began to explode, but experts are still not sure why.
"We don't know if the rainy season in some way affected behavior in the way people moved or how the virus spread," Aylward said. "But I don't want to do that natural experiment."
___
A LEAP AHEAD FOR VACCINES
In this photo taken Thursday Nov. 20, 2014, Kissi Dembadouno sits in his home after he lost his wife, daughter and two grandchildren to the Ebola virus, in the Guinean village of Meliandou, some 400 miles (600 kms) south-east of Conakry, Guinea. The World Health Organization says Thursday, March 12, 2015, its tally of Ebola deaths has passed the grim milestone of 10,000, mostly in West Africa. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay,File)
The outbreak has had one silver lining—it has sped up the development of Ebola vaccines and treatments, something researchers have been working on for years.
WHO and its partners have already started testing two experimental shots, including a recently launched large-scale study to see if a vaccine can help protect people already exposed to the lethal virus but who haven't yet developed the disease. Even though the vaccine may come too late to make a difference to this Ebola outbreak, it could prove invaluable later.
"If we (have) a vaccine stockpile for the future, we might be able to prevent (future outbreaks) from turning into what has happened in West Africa," said Sebastian Funk, an infectious diseases expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Explore further: No new Ebola cases in Liberia for more than two weeks: WHO
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Related Stories
23 hours ago
No new case of the deadly Ebola virus has been registered in Liberia since February 19, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, also hailing positive signs in Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Jan 05, 2015
The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in west Africa has risen to 8,153 out of 20,656 cases recorded, the World Health Organization said Monday.
Jan 01, 2015
The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in west Africa has risen to 7,890 out of 20,171 cases recorded, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.
Jan 29, 2015
Health officials are now focused on ending the biggest-ever Ebola outbreak rather than just slowing the deadly virus' spread, the World Health Organization said Thursday.
Dec 08, 2014
More than 6,300 people have now died from Ebola in the three hardest hit nations in west Africa, the World Health Organization said Monday, as Sierra Leone overtook Liberia as the country with the highest number of cases.
Recommended for you
1 minute ago
The mechanism that causes high-performance athletes to "feel the burn" turns out to be the culprit in what makes people with chronic fatigue syndrome feel exhausted by the most common daily activities, new ...
1 hour ago
The Ebola outbreak that has swept West Africa since 2014 may have cleared the way for a more familiar killer that could claim thousands of more lives—measles.
1 hour ago
Research publishing this week in PLOS Computational Biology analyses the livestock trade in Italy and sexual encounters in a Brazilian prostitution service to find a correlation between loyalty and infect ...
2 hours ago
Sierra Leone has seen a worrying spike in confirmed Ebola cases over the past week in four districts, the head of the national Ebola response center said Thursday.
2 hours ago
In the battle between a cell and a virus, either side may resort to subterfuge. Molecular messages, which control the cellular machinery both sides need, are vulnerable to interception or forgery. New research ...
4 hours ago
Dutch authorities have identified an outbreak of avian flu in chickens at a farm in the centre of the country that is likely a "low risk" strain, officials said Thursday.
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© Medical Xpress 2011-2014, Science X network