Ebola Outbreak in West Africa Is Out of Control

According to the World Health Organization (WHO; Geneva, Switzerland), there have been 528 cases and 337 deaths since the epidemic began. Ebola patients have been identified in more than 60 separate locations across the three countries, complicating efforts to treat patients and curb the outbreak, and there is a real risk of it spreading to other areas. Bringing the epidemic under control will require a massive deployment of resources by governments in West Africa and aid organizations, according to the international medical organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; Geneva, Switzerland).

Since the outbreak began in March 2014, MSF has treated some 470 patients, 215 of them confirmed cases, in specialized centers set up in the region. Some 300 international and national MSF staff and more than 40 tons of equipment and supplies have been sent to the region to help fight the epidemic. In Guinea, MSF is supporting the health authorities by delivering medical care for patients in Conakry, Télimélé, and Guéckédou. Treatment units were built in Macenta, Kissidougou and Dabola. MSF teams are responding to alerts in villages, raising awareness in communities and offering psychological support to patients and their families.

In Sierra Leone, working with the Ministry of Health, an MSF team is constructing a 50-bed Ebola treatment center in Kailahun, due to open this week. Small transit care units have already been set up in Koidu and Daru, with a third to open soon in Buedu. MSF has also provided the Ministry of Health with supplies in order to support the construction of further treatment centers. In Liberia, an MSF team has set up a treatment unit in Foya, another in the JFK hospital in Monrovia, and has also organized training courses and donated equipment. But MSF warns it is having difficulty responding to the large number of new cases and locations.

“The epidemic is out of control; we have reached our limits. Despite the human resources and equipment deployed by MSF in the three affected countries, we are no longer able to send teams to the new outbreak sites,” said Bart Janssens, MD, MSF director of operations. “The WHO, the affected countries, and their neighboring countries must deploy the resources necessary for an epidemic of this scale. Ebola is no longer a public health issue limited to Guinea; it is affecting the whole of West Africa.”

Ebolavirus disease (EVD) is a severe acute viral illness often characterized by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache, and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding. EVD outbreaks have a case fatality rate of up to 90%. The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission. No licensed specific treatment or vaccine is available for use in people or animals.

Related Links:
World Health Organization
Médecins Sans Frontières