 |
| Senegal's Health and Social Action Minister Awa Marie Coll Seck speaks during an interview on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly. |
Senegal's Health and Social
Action Minister Awa Marie Coll Seck speaks during an interview on the sidelines
of the World Health Assembly, May 20, 2014, in Geneva.
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa
has now spread to Senegal, which announced its first case Friday.Health
Minister Awa Marie Coll Seck told reporters that the infected person is a
Guinean university student who sought treatment at a hospital in Senegal's
capital, Dakar, this week.
She said the young man admitted to
having contact with Ebola patients in Guinea, and that he subsequently tested
positive for the virus.Senegal is the fifth country linked to the regional
Ebola outbreak, which has killed more than 1,500 people this year, mostly in
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.The World Health Organization
warned Friday that the six-month-old outbreak is escalating, with 40 percent of
the total number of cases occurring in the past 21 days.Dr. Tom Frieden, director
of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that the
outbreak could spread beyond West Africa if it is not stopped soon.
 |
| Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Tom Frieden. |
FILE - U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Tom Frieden."If we don't stop it
here, we're going to be dealing with it for years around the world. But we can
still stop it," he said.Frieden made his comments Thursday in Liberia, the
country with the highest number of cases and deaths from the virus.On thursday,
the WHO launched a $490 million campaign to fight the epidemic. The
WHO says the total number of reported cases has topped 3,000, but added the
actual number could be two to four times higher. The U.N. agency says
Ebola could eventually infect 20,000 people across West Africa before the
outbreak is brought under control.Nigeria's Health Ministry says 15 cases have
been reported there and six people have died.
 |
Ebola cases and deaths in West
Africa, as of Aug. 28, 2014 update
|
The WHO says 80 people are being monitored
for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as they await lab
results. That situation is believed to have no connection with the Ebola
outbreak in West Africa.
A shortage of protective equipment
is one of the factors contributing to the epidemic. A Senegalese
epidemiologist was flown to Germany earlier this week after contracting the
virus from an Ebola testing lab in Sierra Leone. After the infection, WHO
said it shut down the lab in Kailahun and withdrew its staff.
No comments:
Post a Comment