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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : October 30, 2014 3:51 PM IST
The Ebola outbreak in the hard-hit Liberia is providing a 'glimmer of hope' as the infection rate is slowing in the country, but the crisis is far from over, the World Health Organisation has said. 'There may be a slowing of Ebola in Liberia,' Bruce Aylward, WHO Assistant Director-General in charge of operational response, told reporters at Geneva headquarters.
Aylward, however, urged caution in interpreting the recent data saying that conclusions should not be drawn that Ebola is under control in Liberia, underscoring that while officials are 'seeing glimmers of hope', they need to study what's behind the trend. 'A slight decline in cases on a day to day basis versus getting this thing closed out is a completely different ball game,' he said. (Read: Quarantine for Ebola what is it?)
Describing Ebola as a very, very dangerous disease, Ayiward said, he was terrified that the information will be misinterpreted. 'It's like saying your pet tiger is under control,' he said. He said Ebola was "burning hot" in parts of Sierra Leone, another country at the frontlines of the outbreak, along with Guinea. WHO, in its latest update on Ebola issued yesterday, said 13,703 cases and 4,922 deaths had been reported as of October 27 in the six affected countries of Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Spain and the United States, along with two previously affected countries, Nigeria and Senegal. (Read: 7 tips to prevent the spread of Ebola)
A total of 521 health-care workers are known to have been infected with Ebola, 272 of whom have died, according to the update. Meanwhile Head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) Tony Banbury, in a joint press conference in Ghana with United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said there had been a very significant mobilisation of international personnel, resources and capabilities to work side-by-side with the governments, and that those efforts are starting to pay off. (Read: Ebola virus is mutating rapidly say scientists)
The crisis remains very serious, with continuous needs to build more beds, get more foreign medical teams in place, build more community care centres, and have more safe burial teams and more community mobilisation, Tony said. 'The most difficult thing is that we have to put in place every part of the response, we have to put it in place everywhere and we have to do it super-fast,' he said. 'If there's a gap anywhere in the operational response, it leaves a place for this virus to continue to spread. That's a big responsibility,' he added. He said everything possible was being done to achieve the objectives of 70 per cent of new cases under treatment and 70 per cent of burials being done safely. (Read: Ebola virus is mutating rapidly say scientists)
How the Ebola virus spreads in humans?
It spreads through infected body fluids: Ebola spreads from one infected person to the other through direct contact of the skin and other bodily fluids. The virus is present in the body fluids of an infected person which includes blood, semen, sweat, urine, saliva, feaces, vomit, etc. If a healthy person comes in contact with the infected body fluids that enters his system through open wounds, blood transfusions or through the eyes, ears, mouth, nostrils, genital area, it can infect an individual within a span of two to 21 days depending on the severity of the viral attack. Having unsafe sex with an infected person also can lead to the viral infection.
It can spread through direct skin to skin contact: One major reason why healthcare workers and immediate family members of infected Ebola victims were falling prey to the same in the infected areas is due to direct skin to skin contact with the patients. This is because the virus can be easily transmitted through an exchange of bodily fluids like sweat, saliva, etc. However, remember the virus would not spread only through casual contact. There has to be a medium for the transmission to take place and in case of a skin-to-skin contact it is either sweat, saliva, blood or other body fluids. It is advisable to take proper precautions if you need to be around a victim at any given point of time. Using protective equipment like gloves, masks and protective units is recommended to prevent the virus from spreading to a healthy individual. Read more about How the Ebola virus spreads in humans
With inputs from PTI
Photo source: Getty images
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