The worst Ebola outbreak on record is an “extraordinary event” and a public health risk to other countries, the World Health Organization said.
“The possible consequences of further international spread are particularly serious in view of the virulence of the virus,” the Geneva-based United Nations health agency said. “A coordinated international response is deemed essential to stop and reverse the international spread of Ebola.”
The outbreak has killed 932 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since it was first reported in March, the WHO said on Aug. 6.
The current epidemic is the first time Ebola has appeared in West Africa. Until now, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda have seen the biggest outbreaks, which have tended to be in isolated areas in single countries. A lack of border control has
allowed infected people who didn’t seek medical attention because of fear, suspicion or stigma to travel freely between the three countries.
The World Bank this week pledged as much as $200 million in response to calls by the three nations and the WHO, and the African Development Bank plans to provide $50 million to $60 million.
The Ebola virus is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected person. There is no approved cure. Standard treatment is to keep patients hydrated, replace lost blood and use antibiotics to fight off opportunistic infections. The hope is that the body’s immune system will eventually beat the disease.
The WHO is also convening a panel of medical ethicists next week to explore the use of experimental treatments for Ebola after an experimental antibody cocktail developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc. was used to treat two infected American health workers.
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