MOSCOW, September 15 (RIA Novosti) – The Ebola virus, which is rapidly spreading across West Africa’s countries, causing thousands of deaths and infecting thousands more, is likely to cause an additional 77,181 to 277,124 infection cases by the end of 2014, if the disease continues to spread at such a high rate, a joint study published in the journal Eurosurveillance informs.
According to the research team, consisting of Dr. Hiroshi Nishiura, the University of Tokyo and Dr. Gerardo Chowell, Arizona State University, the spread of Ebola virus must be considered a “public health emergency of international concern”, as the disease can be transmitted beyond West African region and affect new geographical areas.
Dr. Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) in Minneapolis claims that the Ebola virus, which now can be transmitted only through direct contact with a sick person's blood or body fluids, could possibly mutate to be infectious by airborne means, thus, becoming more contagious. In his study published by New York Times, he claims that the international community has to be prepared to undertake necessary measures to stop the epidemic and underlines an important role the UN should play in these efforts.
“The United Nations should provide whatever number of beds are needed. It should also coordinate the recruitment and training around the world of medical and nursing staff, in particular by bringing in local residents who have survived Ebola, and are no longer at risk of infection.”
Dr. Richard E. Besser, a chief health editor at ABC News, considers Ebola virus treatment insufficient. He says the response to the disease leaves much to be desired and the demand for competent medical staff and financial aid is steadily growing.
“I don’t think the world is getting the message” says Dr. Besser, stressing that the outbreak of the disease should be taken under control. “We need to establish large field hospitals […] to treat the sick. We need to implement infection-control practices to save the lives of health-care providers. We need to staff burial teams to curb disease transmission at funerals. We need to implement systems to detect new flare-ups that can be quickly extinguished”.
According to an American journalist Maryn McKenna, a Senior Fellow at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism, the Ebola virus “is a type of epidemic that the world has never seen before”.
Currently, the Ebola outbreak is affecting five West African countries: Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Senegal. But scientists fear that the mutation of the virus can make the disease more transmissible and contribute to its spread across other continents, especially through travelling. Several cases were already suspected in Europe, Asia and North America, three of them – concerning 2 American citizens and a Spaniard – confirmed. The two Americans, infected with Ebola virus, were pronounced “recovered” and allowed to leave a US hospital. But a Spanish priest, who became ill while working for an NGO in Nigeria, died of the disease.
