Nigeria is celebrating its
success in containing the
Ebola Virus. But for Sierra
Leone and Liberia, it seems
the time for good news is
not here yet. Sierra Leone
lost a third doctor yesterday
and British Airways and Air
France have cancelled
flights to both countries
It seemed like the
Armageddon was here. But
Nigeria, which prides itself
as African giant, has been
able to contain Ebola. Only
one patient with confirmed
Ebola is left in isolation.
Five persons, including the
index case, Liberian Patrick
Sawyer and Dr Stella
Adadevoh, have died in the
country. Many who were
either on surveillance or
with confirmed cases have
been declared free of Ebola
and have since resumed
their normal life.
Sierra Leone and Liberia are,
however, still groaning
under Ebola’s jackboot. A
third doctor, who contracted
the virus, died yesterday.
Airlines, such as British
Airways and Air France,
also announced the
cancellation of flights to the
troubled countries.
The doctor’s death raised
worries about Sierra Leone’s
fight against Ebola, which
already has killed more than
1,400 people across West
Africa. The World Health
Organization said it was
sending a team to
investigate how the
epidemiologist now
undergoing treatment in
Germany may have
contracted the disease that
kills more than half its
victims.
“The international surge of
health workers is extremely
important and if something
happens, if health workers
get infected and it scares off
other international health
workers from coming, we
will be in dire straits,” said
Christy Feig, director of
WHO communications.
Dr. Sahr Rogers had been
working at a hospital in the
eastern town of Kenema
when he contracted Ebola,
said Sierra Leonean
presidential adviser Ibrahim
Ben Kargbo on Wednesday.
Two other top doctors
already have succumbed to
Ebola since the outbreak
emerged there earlier this
year, including Dr. Sheik
Humarr Khan, who also
treated patients in Kenema.
Rogers’ death marks yet
another setback for Sierra
Leone, a country still
recovering from years of
civil war, where there are
only two doctors per
100,000 people, according
to WHO. By comparison,
there are 245 doctors per
100,000 in the United
States.
The Senegalese
epidemiologist who was
evacuated to Germany had
been doing surveillance
work for the U.N. health
agency, said Feig, the WHO
spokeswoman. The position
involves coordinating the
outbreak response by
working with lab experts,
health workers and
hospitals, but does not
usually involve direct
treatment of patients.
“He wasn’t in treatment
centers normally,” she said
by telephone from Sierra
Leone. “It’s possible he
went in there and wasn’t
properly covered, but that’s
why we’ve taken this
unusual measure — to try to
figure out what happened.”
WHO said late Tuesday that
it was pulling out its team
from the eastern Sierra
Leonean city of Kailahun,
where the epidemiologist
working with the
organization was recently
infected. The team was
exhausted and the added
stress of a colleague getting
sick could increase the risk
of mistakes, said Daniel
Kertesz, the organization’s
representative in the
country.
Canada also announced late
Tuesday it was evacuating
a three-member mobile
laboratory team from Sierra
Leone after people in their
hotel were diagnosed with
Ebola. The Public Agency of
Canada said none of the
team members was showing
any signs of illness but that
they would remain in
voluntary isolation during
the 21-day incubation
period.
Health workers have been
especially vulnerable
because of their close
proximity to patients, who
can spread the virus
through bodily fluids. WHO
says more than 120 health
workers have died in the
four affected countries —
Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea
and Nigeria.
While some local health
workers have lacked proper
protective gear, the teams
from the World Health
Organization and Doctors
Without Borders are usually
well-equipped and trained in
how to use the protective
suiting.
A team of two experts was
sent Tuesday to investigate
whether the case occurred
through straightforward
exposure to Ebola patients,
or something else, said Feig,
the WHO spokeswoman. She
said the team is checking to
see if there is an infection
risk in the living and
working environments that
had not been discovered.
There is no proven treatment
for Ebola, so health workers
primarily focus on isolating
the sick. But a small
number of patients in this
outbreak have received an
experimental drug called
ZMapp. The London
hospital treating a British
nurse infected in Sierra
Leone, William Pooley, said
he is now receiving the
drug.
It was unclear where the
doses for Pooley came
from. The California-based
maker of ZMapp had said
that its supplies were
exhausted and that it would
take months before more
doses would be available.
Two Americans, a Spaniard
and three health workers in
Liberia have received
ZMapp, though it is unclear
if the drug is effective. The
Americans have recovered
and have been released
from an Atlanta hospital, but
the Spaniard died, as did a
Liberian doctor.
Health officials in Liberia
said the other two recipients
of ZMapp in Liberia — a
Congolese doctor and a
Liberian physician’s
assistant, have recovered.
Both are expected to be
discharged from an Ebola
treatment center on Friday,
said Dr. Moses Massaquoi,
a Liberian doctor with the
treatment team.
British Airways is
suspending all of its flights
between London and
Liberian and Sierra Leone
for the rest of the year.
The airline initially said it
was halting its service
between Heathrow Airport
and Liberia and Sierra Leone
until the end of August due
to ‘the deteriorating public
health situation in both
countries’, but it confirmed
yesterday that it is
extending the suspension
until December 31.
The decision was first
announced by the Foreign &
Commonwealth Office in an
updated travel advisory for
Britons.
In a statement, British
Airways said: ‘The safety of
our customers, crew and
ground teams is always our
top priority and we will
regularly reassess the
routes in the coming
months.
‘Customers with tickets on
those routes are being
offered a full refund or a
range of rebooking options.’
British Airways, the national
flag carrier for the UK,
normally operates four
flights a week between
Heathrow Airport and
Monrovia, Liberia, with a
stopover in Freetown, Sierra
Leone.
Air France has also
suspended its flights to and
from Sierra Leone, and the
French government has
urged French nationals to
leave Sierra Leone amid
concerns about the
epidemic.
Air France announced that it
temporarily halted its flights
to Freetown, Sierra Leone
because of the Ebola
outbreak there and at the
request of the French
government.
The French national carrier
said it is maintaining its
flights to Conakry, Guinea,
and to Lagos, Nigeria, cities
it flies to once a day.
Referring to Ebola, the
airline said, “Measures in
place at airports there
“guarantee … that no
passengers presenting
symptoms … can board.”
The French government said
the increasing spread of
Ebola — notably in Liberia
and Sierra Leone —
prompted its request for
suspension of Air France
flights to Sierra Leone and
its recommendation that
French citizens leave Sierra
Leone and Liberia.
Several airlines have
stopped flying into and out
of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra
Leone and Nigeria as they
grapple with the worst
outbreak since the virus was
first detected in 1976.
British Airways followed the
lead of Emirates, which
became the first major
international airline to
cancel flights, and African
carriers Arik and ASKY.
Kenya Airways and Korean
Air Lines have also halted
flights to the region.
The current outbreak is
believed to have started in
Guinea last December.
The World Health
Organisation said the risk of
transmission of Ebola virus
disease during air travel is
low and it does not
recommend any ban on
international travel or trade.
The FCO is encouraging
people to refer to the
National Travel Health
Network and Centre’s
website before travelling to
the affected countries, but it
has not implemented any
travel restrictions.
The FCO issued a warning
on its website: ‘You should
carefully assess your need
to travel to these countries.
If you do decide to travel,
you should make sure you
have adequate
arrangements in place for
onward travel/exit and have
adequate emergency health
provision.’
Ebola is spread by close
contact with organs or
bodily fluids from an
infected person or animal –
living or dead – and there is
no proven cure or vaccine.
The highly transmissible
virus causes haemorrhagic
fever that kills as many as
60 per cent to 80 per cent
of the people it infects in
Africa.
source: http://thenationonlineng.net/new/as-nigeria-cages-ebola-virus-sierra-leone-liberia-cry/