Ebola Death Toll passes 2,800

Health workers arrive with a potentially contaminated patient on 7 September at Elwa hospital in Monrovia, which is run by the non-governmental French organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres. AFP Photo/Dominique Faget

Geneva [AFP]

The deadliest Ebola epidemic ever has now killed 2,811 in west Africa, the World Health Organisation has said, adding though that in Senegal and Nigeria the outbreak has been basically contained.

The UN health agency, which also published the results of the latest meeting of its Ebola emergency committee on Monday, said a total of 5,864 people had been infected in five west African countries as of September 18.

The disease has claimed 181 lives since the last death toll of 2,630 was issued on September 14.

Guinea, where the outbreak began at the start of the year, and neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone by far account for most of the cases and continue to see ballooning numbers.

Liberia has been especially hard-hit, with 1,578 deaths from 3,022 cases.

At the same time ‘the outbreaks in Senegal and Nigeria are pretty much contained’, the WHO said in a statement.

Senegal has not reported any new cases of the deadly virus since it registered its first and only case on August 29, a Guinean student who has since recovered.

And Nigeria, where 21 people have been infected, eight of whom have died, has not reported any new cases since 8 September.

The WHO said a meeting of its Ebola emergency committee last week had determined that the outbreak remained a ‘public health emergency of international concern’.

The committee had reiterated its opposition to general bans on international travel or trade, although people infected with Ebola or who had had contact with Ebola patients should not be permitted to travel, the WHO said.

The emergency committee also stressed that in cases where measures like quarantines are deemed necessary, countries must ensure that ‘they are proportionate and evidence-based, and that accurate information, essential services and commodities, including food and water are provided to the affected populations’.

BBC’s nightly Ebola service

Meanwhile, BBC World Service radio has begun nightly Ebola broadcasts for west Africa, concentrating on efforts to combat the virus across the region.

The nine-minute News About West Africa broadcasts include a round-up of developments, particularly from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the three worst-affected countries.

‘Through local stories, correspondents and interviews, the broadcast will include the latest information about local, regional and international effort to contain and combat the disease,’ the British Broadcasting Corporation said in a statement from London on Monday.

‘There is a great deal of new information emerging about how best to respond to Ebola and the program aims that to share that with an African and global audience.

‘Lack of knowledge and myths about the disease are killing people as surely as Ebola is,’ BBC World Service director Peter Horrocks said.

‘Quality information from both within and outside the countries affected about how the risks of Ebola can be safely managed will save lives.’

Source;http://www.echo.net.au/2014/09/ebola-death-toll-surpasses-2800/