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Health See other Health Articles Title: Doctors Without Borders: Ebola 'out of control' . . DAKAR, Senegal (AP) The Ebola outbreak ravaging West Africa is "totally out of control," according to a senior official for Doctors Without Borders, who says the medical group is stretched to the limit in responding. The outbreak has caused more deaths than any other of the disease, said another official with the medical charity. Ebola has been linked to more than 330 deaths in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, according to the World Health Organization. International organizations and the governments involved need to send in more health experts and increase public education messages about how to stop the spread of the disease, Bart Janssens, the director of operations for the medical group in Brussels, told The Associated Press on Friday. "The reality is clear that the epidemic is now in a second wave," Janssens said. "And, for me, it is totally out of control." The Ebola virus, which causes internal bleeding and organ failure, spreads through direct contact with infected people. There is no cure or vaccine, so containing an outbreak focuses on supportive care for the ill and isolating them to limit the spread of the virus. The current outbreak, which began in Guinea either late last year or early this year, had appeared to slow before picking up pace again in recent weeks, including spreading to the Liberian capital for the first time. View gallery Map locates Guinea.; 1c x 3 inches; 46.5 mm x 76 m
Map locates Guinea.; 1c x 3 inches; 46.5 mm x 76 mm; "This is the highest outbreak on record and has the highest number of deaths, so this is unprecedented so far," said Armand Sprecher, a public health specialist with Doctors Without Borders. According to the WHO, the highest previous death toll was in the first recorded Ebola outbreak in Congo in 1976, when 280 deaths were reported. Because Ebola often touches remote areas and the first cases sometimes go unrecognized, it is likely that there are deaths that go uncounted during outbreaks. The multiple locations of the current outbreak and its movement across borders make it one of the "most challenging Ebola outbreaks ever," Fadela Chaib, a spokeswoman for the World Health Organization, said earlier in the week. But Janssens' description of the Ebola outbreak was even more alarming, and he warned that the countries involved had not recognized the gravity of the situation. He criticized WHO for not doing enough to prod local leaders; the U.N. health agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment. "There needs to be a real political commitment that this is a very big emergency," he said. "Otherwise, it will continue to spread, and for sure it will spread to more countries." But Tolbert Nyenswah, Liberia's deputy minister of health, said the highest levels of government are working to contain the outbreak, noting that Liberia had a long period with no new cases before this second wave. Governments and international agencies are definitely struggling to keep up with the outbreak, said Unni Krishnan of Plan International, which is providing equipment to the three countries. But he noted that the disease is striking in one of the world's poorest regions, where public health systems are already fragile. With more than 40 international staff currently on the ground and four treatment centers, Doctors Without Borders has reached its limit to respond, Janssens said. It is unclear, for instance, if the group will be able to set up a treatment center in Liberia, like the ones it is running in in Guinea and Sierra Leone, he said. Janssens said the only way to stop the disease's spread is to persuade people to come forward when symptoms occur and to avoid touching the sick and dead. He said this outbreak is particularly challenging because it began in an area where people are very mobile and has spread to even more densely populated areas, like the capitals of Guinea and Liberia. The disease typically strikes sparsely populated areas in central or eastern Africa, where it spreads less easily, he said. By contrast, the epicenter of this outbreak is near a major regional transport hub, the Guinean city of Gueckedou. ___ Associated Press video journalist Bishr Eltouni in Brussels and writer Jonathan Paye-Layleh in Monrovia, Liberia, contributed to this report. Commenter Intravenous vitamin C may help "Ebola and Marburg Virus Note that the 2005 epidemic in Angola which was first referred to as an Ebola like virus has now been called the Marburg Virus. It does not make a difference from the point of view of treatment with massive doses of intravenous sodium ascorbate. Both diseases kill by way of free radicals which can be neutralized by massive doses of sodium ascorbate intravenously." Viiiv This is quite possibly the most dangerous disease known to mankind. With only 12% survival rate, there is a chance the disease could kill you in 48 hours and you don't see symptoms until after the first 24 hrs. The virus melts your body parts from the inside. and the worst part is we don't have a cure. Although they say the disease isnt airborne, you can contract the disease from cough and sneezes from an infected person. If someone with the disease is flying to the US or any nation for that matter, Just imagine the damage the person could do...All the governments need to do a more serious effort to contain this disease. This disease has a potential to wipe out entire nations.+39-5 Micmac Viiv, I heard that it originally came from monkeys in Africa. It that true? I know that it is a terrible disease. I hope they can get it under control soon. My heart goes out to the people in that region+12-5 Viiiv Micmac, yes monkeys too but mainly fruit bats. Fruit bats are the carriers of this disease without getting infected by it. In some parts of Africa, they eat bats as a snack which is one of the reasons for this outbreak all the time. But I would also say lack of education and not following hygienic habits. Most parts of this continent are so poor, they even use the same needle to inject medication for different people which is also another major reason for spread of any disease. I only hope this gets contained soon and someone out there finds a vaccine. Oh and this Disease can cause a person to bleed from every hole on human body. Coal Rule # 1.Don't eat monkeys. Rule # 2 Don't do other perverted things to monkeys. Rule # 3 stay away from people who do use monkeys for anything. Rule # 4 Don't go near anyone bleeding from assorted orifices in African monkey country or people who are doing things with monkeys anywhere. Rule # 5 Monkeys are primates who carry wicked diseases that humans don't deal with very well. I don't like the filthy things even suggest you keep your distance at the zoo. +24-5 Joe There's got to be some sort of African Witch Doctor, who has a bone through his nose that can help these people. +6-1 Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top Page Up Full Thread Page Down Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
Perfect candidates for Obamas' new immigration program....
"The government ruling us draws its authority not from the principles of the Declaration of Independence, or even from the delegate powers listed in the U.S. Constitution, but rather from the war to re-conquer the independent South. That conflict, usually referred to by the artfully misleading title Civil War, established the fact that the government in Washington is willing to kill Americans in whatever quantity it deems necessary in order to enforce its edicts, and then sanctify the slaughter in the name of some suitably progressive social objective.
Yep. They should move them to some nice subsidized project housing in the Hamptons and the Adirondacks.
Support bacteria. (The world needs more culture)
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