On Sunday, February 15th, Guinea reported an Ebola outbreak after there were seven confirmed cases. According to health officials in the N'Zerekore district, the seven cases were all people who attended a nurse's funeral on February 1st. Since then, three of them have already died. It hasn't been confirmed whether or not the nurse, whose funeral it was, also died from the Ebola virus.
On February 18th, the WHO (World Health Organization) regional director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, notified the public that 11,000 vaccines were being sent to them from Geneva with another 8,000 from the US. There were also 30 vaccination experts being sent out to administer the vaccines and 700 trained Red Cross volunteers. Dr. Matshidiso talks about the new Ebola outbreak in relation to COVID-19 stating "Our collective, quick action is crucial to avert an uncontrolled spread of Ebola amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which has already pushed health workers and health facilities to the edge." Health officials are trying hard to stop the spread, hoping to not have a repeat of the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak that also started in Guinea and infected 28,000 people and killed 11,000 people. The UN is also jumping in to help, releasing $15 million from their emergency fund in order to help combat the new outbreaks.
Dr. Matshidiso discusses his concerns about the implications of the virus noting that "it's a huge concern to see the resurgence of Ebola in Guinea, a country which has already suffered so much from the disease." He also mentions how he's hopeful that the knowledge scientists and health officials gained from the last outbreak will come in handy here and prevent the outbreak from getting as bad as it did in 2014-2016. For reference, about 50% of people who contract Ebola die (this is an average as it has ranged from 25% to 90%) while the death rate for Covid-19 is around 2.7%.
Luckily, Guinea mobilized quickly, immediately sending out health officials, alerting the public, and obtaining 10,000+ vaccines in an attempt to stop the spread before it can really begin. The next step is distributing and continuing to implement further strategies to get a hold of the outbreak before it can spread further.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/15/africa/ebola-guinea-west-africa-intl/index.html
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/03/1086532
2 comments:
According to the UN site, there is limited stocks on the Ebola vaccines, so healthcare officials are using the "ring vaccination" system, where they vaccinate those who are likely to have and contract the virus. While there is an "advantage" some of the countries have seeing they already went through an Ebola epidemic a couple years ago, they never had to deal with TWO extremely deadly viruses at the same time. During the last Ebola epidemic, there was resistance to outsiders who arrived in hazmat suits to help -- this time around, however, I don't think there will be as many protests to outside help. In general, the cultural response to both viruses (covid and ebola) in different communities has been something to keep an eye on. I'm anxious to see how and when the Guinea governmental officials (and those of the neighboring countries) will contain the spread of the virus.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/03/1086532
It’s been almost a month since this ebola outbreak started and so far, there are 9 deaths and 18 sickness tied to this nurse’s funeral. These numbers aren’t worrying. However, what is worrying is the fact that the ebola strain found in the nurse’s husband is nearly identical to the one from 5 years ago. The fact that this virus remained dormant for so many years without multiplying is quite interesting. Almost 50% of ebola survivors still experience symptoms - none of which make ebola transmissible through normal day to day activities. The only way survivors pose a risk is through intercourse. This fact, combined with the fact that ebola doesn’t usually stay dormant for long in one person, leads scientist to believe that in this case, the virus has been passed around. This is why officials are using the “ring” system that Varsha mentioned, as it makes sense, like with most viruses, to trace and stop the spread. In this case, the ring system will be pretty easily implemented and this outbreak will probably remain small before disappearing completely.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/03/new-ebola-outbreak-likely-sparked-person-infected-5-years-ago
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