Things just went to 11 on the Spinal-Tap amplifier of massive infectious disease outbreaks. As AP reports, the Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 700 people in West Africa is moving faster than the efforts to control the disease, the head of the World Health Organization warned. Dr. Margaret Chan pulled no punches in her direct statement, “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.” Time to panic?
Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, said the meeting in Conakry “must be a turning point” in the battle against Ebola, which is now sickening people in three African capitals for the first time in history.
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At least 729 people in four countries — Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria — have died since cases first emerged back in March. Two American health workers in Liberia have been infected, and an American man of Liberian descent died in Nigeria from the disease, health authorities there say.
While health officials say the virus is transmitted only through direct contact with bodily fluids, many sick patients have refused to go to isolation centers and have infected family members and other caregivers.
The fatality rate has been about 60 percent, and the scenes of patients bleeding from the eyes, mouth and ears has led many relatives to keep their sick family members at home instead.
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“Constant mutation and adaptation are the survival mechanisms of viruses and other microbes,” she said. “We must not give this virus opportunities to deliver more surprises.”
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“I believe we’re only seeing a small portion of the cases out there … The virus is getting to large, dense, city areas. We’re now getting samples (to test) from all over,” he said Friday.
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Meanwhile, other countries are taking precautions to prevent the spread of Ebola.
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Interestingly, worries are spreading quickly as one Commonwealth Games competitor found:
a cyclist from Sierra Leone competed in the Commonwealth Games after being tested for Ebola. Moses Sesay, 32, was admitted to a Glasgow hospital last week after feeling unwell, and doctors tested him for various conditions including Ebola. Sesay was passed fit, and released from hospital in time to compete in the individual time trial on Thursday.
Yahoo has kindly provided this ‘panic sheet’ for where the nearest CDC quarantine stations are in the US…
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1m65Wjn Tyler Durden