The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has been described by the World Health
Organisation, WHO, and historians to have the potential to cause havoc as
much as any plague has ever done in the history of mankind.
According to the WHO, the deadly Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, ravaging the West
Africa have recorded more than 4,300 cases and 2,300 deaths over the past
six months.
Only last week, the United Nations agency warned that, by early October, there
may be thousands of new cases per week in Liberia , Sierra Leone, Guinea and
Nigeria .
However, on Thursday, 11 September, 2014, the director of the Center for
Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota,
USA, Michael T. Osterholm, in an opinion piece he wrote for the New York
Times, revealed that there are things about the Ebola virus that are not getting
said publicly despite briefings and discussions in the inner circles of the
world’s public health agencies.
Ebola density in Africa.
Osterholm claimed the world is in totally uncharted waters and that Mother
Nature is the only force in charge of the Ebola virus disease.
Below are full texts of the opinion:
The Ebola epidemic in West Africa has the potential to alter history as much
as any plague has ever done.
There have been more than 4,300 cases and 2,300 deaths over the past six
months. Last week, the World Health Organization warned that, by early
October, there may be thousands of new cases per week in Liberia , Sierra
Leone, Guinea and Nigeria . What is not getting said publicly, despite briefings
and discussions in the inner circles of the world’s public health agencies, is
that we are in totally uncharted waters and that Mother Nature is the only
force in charge of the crisis at this time.

There are two possible future chapters to this story that should keep us up at
night.
The first possibility is that the Ebola virus spreads from West Africa to
megacities in other regions of the developing world.
This outbreak is very different from the 19 that have occurred in Africa over
the past 40 years. It is much easier to control Ebola infections in isolated
villages.
But there has been a 300 percent increase in Africa’s population over the last
four decades, much of it in large city slums.
What happens when an infected person yet to become ill travels by plane to
Lagos, Nairobi, Kinshasa or Mogadishu — or even Karachi, Jakarta, Mexico
City or Dhaka?
The second possibility is one that virologists are loath to discuss openly but
are definitely considering in private: that an Ebola virus could mutate to
become transmissible through the air.
Ebola Outbreak in West Africa
You can now get Ebola only through direct contact with bodily fluids. But
viruses like Ebola are notoriously sloppy in replicating, meaning the virus
entering one person may be genetically different from the virus entering the
next.
The current Ebola virus’s hyper-evolution is unprecedented; there has been
more human-to-human transmission in the past four months than most likely
occurred in the last 500 to 1,000 years. Each new infection represents trillions
of throws of the genetic dice.
If certain mutations occurred, it would mean that just breathing would put one
at risk of contracting Ebola.
Infections could spread quickly to every part of the globe, as the H1N1
influenza virus did in 2009, after its birth in Mexico.
Why are public officials afraid to discuss this? They don’t want to be accused
of screaming “Fire!” in a crowded theater — as I’m sure some will accuse me
of doing. But the risk is real, and until we consider it, the world will not be
prepared to do what is necessary to end the epidemic.
In 2012, a team of Canadian researchers proved that Ebola Zaire, the same
virus that is causing the West Africa outbreak, could be transmitted by the
respiratory route from pigs to monkeys, both of whose lungs are very similar
to those of humans.
Richard Preston’s 1994 best seller “The Hot Zone” chronicled a 1989 outbreak
of a different strain, Ebola Reston virus, among monkeys at a quarantine
station near Washington.
The virus was transmitted through breathing, and the outbreak ended only
when all the monkeys were euthanized.
We must consider that such transmissions could happen between humans, if
the virus mutates.
So what must we do that we are not doing?
First, we need someone to take over the position of “command and control.”
The United Nations is the only international organization that can direct the
immense amount of medical, public health and humanitarian aid that must
come from many different countries and nongovernmental groups to smother
this epidemic.
Thus far it has played at best a collaborating role, and with everyone in
charge, no one is in charge.
A Security Council resolution could give the United Nations total responsibility
for controlling the outbreak, while respecting West African nations’ sovereignty
as much as possible.
The United Nations could, for instance, secure aircraft and landing rights.
Many private airlines are refusing to fly into the affected countries, making it
very difficult to deploy critical supplies and personnel.
A sick woman undergoes Ebola treatment.
The Group of 7 countries’ military air and ground support must be brought in
to ensure supply chains for medical and infection-control products, as well as
food and water for quarantined areas.
The United Nations should provide whatever number of beds are needed; the
World Health Organization has recommended 1,500, but we may need
thousands more.
It should also coordinate the recruitment and training around the world of
medical and nursing staff, in particular by bringing in local residents who have
survived Ebola, and are no longer at risk of infection.
Many countries are pledging medical resources, but donations will not result in
an effective treatment system if no single group is responsible for coordinating
them.
Finally, we have to remember that Ebola isn’t West Africa’s only problem.
Tens of thousands die there each year from diseases like AIDS, malaria and
tuberculosis.
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea have among the highest maternal mortality
rates in the world. Because people are now too afraid of contracting Ebola to
go to the hospital, very few are getting basic medical care.
In addition, many health care workers have been infected with Ebola, and more
than 120 have died. Liberia has only 250 doctors left, for a population of four
million.
This is about humanitarianism and self-interest. If we wait for vaccines and
new drugs to arrive to end the Ebola epidemic, instead of taking major action
now, we risk the disease’s reaching from West Africa to our own backyards.

Well said. Someone needs to be handed the reins in dealing with this ebola outbreak. I however disagree with the fact that the UN should be in charge. The AU should take responsibility first. We can deal with our own messes. History has never been kind to us whenever foreign intervention is allowed.

Th AU isnt ready and i don't think they have the motive to do so.With the bigger umbrella(UN),much could still be achieved..