December 23, 2014 – There seems to be no cheering news from the three West African countries, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea afflicted by the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says EVD has killed 6,900 people out of the18, 603cases reported in the affected countries. .But the statistics emanating from the three West African states are not encouraging at all.
Director, Centre for Disease Control (CDC), Mr. Tom Frieden who was in the three affected countries in the last seven months reports that rather than abating, the EVD is spreading very rapidly.
He admitted speaking with patients and staff and many of CDC’s 170 staff working in each of the countries adding that the situation is both inspiring and sobering.
“It is inspiring to see how much better the response has become in the past two months, how much international commitment there is, and, most importantly, how hard people from each of the three countries are working to stop Ebola.
“But it is sobering that Ebola continues to spread rapidly in Sierra Leone and that in parts of Monrovia and Conakry Ebola is spreading unabated. Improvements in contact tracing are urgently needed,” he said.
