With the country of Liberia – the last of the African regions to be still affected be the Ebola virus expecting the all-clear, the two-year Ebola epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people in west Africa is due to be declared officially over on Thursday.
Since it emerged in southern Guinea in December 2013, the worst outbreak of the deadly tropical pathogen in history devastated health services and wrecked the economies of the hardest-hit nations.
With bodies piling up in the streets and overwhelmed hospitals recording hundreds of new cases a week, at its height the virus cut a swath through the capital cities of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Thursday’s announcement in Geneva will “mark 42 days since the last Ebola cases in Liberia were tested negative”, the World health Organizaiton said. The announcement had previously been scheduled for Friday, with no reason given for the change.
“We will remain careful and keep calling on the population to take the necessary measures in preventing re-occurrence,” said Francis Karteh, Liberia’s chief medical officer, a major figure in the battle against the epidemic.
The father and the younger brother of a 15-year-old victim – the last two cases in Liberia were discharged on December 3. The country was hardest hit by the disease with 4,800 deaths.
According to official data, with a total number of infection cases amounting to almost 29,000 people and claiming 11,315 lives, Liberia was the last country still to be affected by an outbreak. However many experts are of the opinion that the figures represents a significant underestimate.
Before Liberia could be declared free of transmission for a third time, the patients’ recovery triggered a 42-day countdown – twice the incubation period of the virus.
Causing severe fever and muscle pain, weakness, vomiting and diarrhea, the Ebola virus has the potential to kill its victims within days. In many cases it shuts down organs and causes unstoppable bleeding.
Close contact with the sweat, vomit, blood, or other bodily fluids of an infected person, or the recently deceased were the sources of the spread of the virus.
In May 2015, Liberia was first declared free of human-to-human transmission in May, only to see the fever resurface six weeks later.
For a second time, the country was officially credited with beating the epidemic for a second time in September. However another small cluster of cases emerged.
Quickly causing more deaths than all other outbreaks combined, the virus spread aggressively from its “patient zero”, a Guinean infant who was the first victim, into Liberia and then Sierra Leone.
As deaths mounted at a dizzying rate, sporadic cases were also registered in Mali, Nigeria and Senegal. Fears were ignited in Europe and elsewhere of a virus that transgressed borders and national controls.
As crops rotted in the fields, mines were abandoned and goods could not get to market, the epidemic devastated the economies of the worst-hit countries.
While Liberia has resumed growth and , Sierra Leone is in a severe recession according to the World Bank, strong recent growth has been curtailed in Guinea. This global financial body has mobilized $1.62bn (£1.12bn) for Ebola response and recovery efforts.
(Source:www,theguardian.com)
Since it emerged in southern Guinea in December 2013, the worst outbreak of the deadly tropical pathogen in history devastated health services and wrecked the economies of the hardest-hit nations.
With bodies piling up in the streets and overwhelmed hospitals recording hundreds of new cases a week, at its height the virus cut a swath through the capital cities of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Thursday’s announcement in Geneva will “mark 42 days since the last Ebola cases in Liberia were tested negative”, the World health Organizaiton said. The announcement had previously been scheduled for Friday, with no reason given for the change.
“We will remain careful and keep calling on the population to take the necessary measures in preventing re-occurrence,” said Francis Karteh, Liberia’s chief medical officer, a major figure in the battle against the epidemic.
The father and the younger brother of a 15-year-old victim – the last two cases in Liberia were discharged on December 3. The country was hardest hit by the disease with 4,800 deaths.
According to official data, with a total number of infection cases amounting to almost 29,000 people and claiming 11,315 lives, Liberia was the last country still to be affected by an outbreak. However many experts are of the opinion that the figures represents a significant underestimate.
Before Liberia could be declared free of transmission for a third time, the patients’ recovery triggered a 42-day countdown – twice the incubation period of the virus.
Causing severe fever and muscle pain, weakness, vomiting and diarrhea, the Ebola virus has the potential to kill its victims within days. In many cases it shuts down organs and causes unstoppable bleeding.
Close contact with the sweat, vomit, blood, or other bodily fluids of an infected person, or the recently deceased were the sources of the spread of the virus.
In May 2015, Liberia was first declared free of human-to-human transmission in May, only to see the fever resurface six weeks later.
For a second time, the country was officially credited with beating the epidemic for a second time in September. However another small cluster of cases emerged.
Quickly causing more deaths than all other outbreaks combined, the virus spread aggressively from its “patient zero”, a Guinean infant who was the first victim, into Liberia and then Sierra Leone.
As deaths mounted at a dizzying rate, sporadic cases were also registered in Mali, Nigeria and Senegal. Fears were ignited in Europe and elsewhere of a virus that transgressed borders and national controls.
As crops rotted in the fields, mines were abandoned and goods could not get to market, the epidemic devastated the economies of the worst-hit countries.
While Liberia has resumed growth and , Sierra Leone is in a severe recession according to the World Bank, strong recent growth has been curtailed in Guinea. This global financial body has mobilized $1.62bn (£1.12bn) for Ebola response and recovery efforts.
(Source:www,theguardian.com)