The increasing Ebola outbreak in West Africa is major concern across the globe. Here at The Africa Channel, we want keep you in the know on a daily basis about how to protect yourself, latest statistics and advancements of the virus.
Information About the Outbreak
On March 23, 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported cases of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the forested rural region of southeastern Guinea. The identification of these early cases marked the beginning of the West Africa Ebola epidemic, the largest in history.
An 18-month-old boy from a small village in Guinea is believed to have been infected by bats. After five additional cases of fatal diarrhea occurred in that area, an official medical alert was issued on January 24, 2014, to the district health officials. The Ebola virus soon spread to Guinea’s capital city of Conakry, and on March 13, 2014, the Ministry of Health in Guinea issued an alert for an unidentified illness.
Weak surveillance systems and poor public health infrastructure contributed to the difficulty surrounding the containment of this outbreak and it quickly spread to Guinea’s bordering countries, Liberia and Sierra Leone. By July 2014, the outbreak spread to the capitals of all three countries. This was the first time EVD extended out from more isolated, rural areas and into densely populated urban centers, providing an unprecedented opportunity for transmission.
Impartial organizations to keep up to date on virus:
World Health Organisation (W.H.O) – www.who.in
Doctors Without Boarder – www.doctorswithoutborders.org
Reuters- www.reuters.com/news/health
