Two U.S. citizens are being treated for Ebola in Liberia and the country shut some border crossings, as the worst outbreak of the disease on record spread to Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and largest economy.
Kent Brantly is in isolation and receiving treatment, North Carolina-based Samaritan’s Purse said. Brantly, a doctor, is the medical director of the aid charity’s Ebola center in Monrovia, Liberia’s capital. Nancy Writebol, who works for the manager of the hospital treating people with the virus in the country, has tested positive for Ebola, the charity said on its website yesterday.
Ebola, which has no known cure or treatment and leads to death in as many as 90 percent of those who get it, has killed more than 660 people in four West African nations since March, the worst episode of the virus since it was first reported in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976.
Liberia shut all minor border crossings to contain the virus, AllAfrica.com reported, citing a government statement. The current outbreak may last for another three months, according to the World Health Organization.
Liberia plans to establish testing centers at major entry points that remain open, including Roberts International Airport, James Spriggs Payne Airport, Foya Crossing, Bo Waterside Crossing, and Ganta Crossing, according to AllAfrica.com.
First Case
Nigeria reported its first case last week after an infected Liberian man landed at the country’s biggest airport in Lagos, the commercial capital. Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa, home to the largest city on the continent, Lagos, and has a population of about 170 million people.
The virus isn’t transmitted through the air, so there’s no risk the passenger in Nigeria infected other travelers on the plane unless he vomited or they somehow came into contact with his bodily secretions, said David Heymann, a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who has studied Ebola since the 1976 case.
“As far as spreading in Lagos, of course it’s a possibility but if the patient was isolated as the authorities say, it’s a minimal risk,†Heymann said by phone from London yesterday. “People who have been in contact should be under fever surveillance, they should have their temperature taken twice a day and if they became febrile they should be immediately isolated.â€Â
Higher Risk
Medical staff are at the highest risk of contracting the fever spread through bodily secretions including sweat because of proximity to patients.
The disease is transmitted to people through the blood and other secretions of wild animals, such as chimpanzees, gorillas and bats, according to the WHO. Humans spread it to each other through contact with bodily fluids of infected people. It causes fever, diarrhea and vomiting, and can lead to bleeding from the eyes, ears and nose.
A confirmatory test is being sent to Dakar, said Tarik Jasarevic, a WHO spokesman. The Geneva-based WHO is sending disease-trackers to Lagos, including a specialist in burial practices to make sure the risk of further transmission is limited, he said.
Serious Development
“Every time there is an infection in a new location it is a serious development, but the principle remains the same,†Jasarevic said by phone from Sierra Leone. “You have to identify this person, test them, identify the contacts and follow them for 21 days.â€Â
Denial the disease exists, hostility to medical workers, a lack of medical supplies and below-standard hygiene are complicating efforts to contain the spread of the disease. In Sierra Leone, family of victims have attacked doctors while in neighboring Liberia the husband of a victim tried to burn the hospital down where his wife died.
A top Liberian doctor, Samuel Brisbane, died yesterday after treating Ebola patients, the country’s Ministry of Health said today. The physician in charge of Ebola treatment in Sierra Leone, Sheik Umar Khan, contracted the virus last week.
Health workers attending to the patient should have been wearing gloves, gowns and face visors to prevent contact between the patient’s bodily fluids and their own mucus membranes, such as the eyes, mouth, nose and ears, Heymann said.
“There should never be false security with Ebola, everybody should be on the alert no matter where they are,†Heymann said.
Credit: Bloomberg
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