Ebola Outbreak in West Africa
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Introduction
The latest Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa has been described by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the largest, most severe and most complex outbreak in the history of the disease.
The epidemic began at the end of 2013, in Guinea. From there it spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal. Many of the affected countries face enormous challenges in stopping its spread and providing care for all patients.
Thousands of people have died and many are at risk as the fatality rate from this virus is very high. As the crisis worsens, as well as the enormous health challenges involved, the social and economic consequences may set these countries back, reversing some gains a number of these countries have made in recent years.
Where does the Ebola virus come from?
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the US, the initial human infection comes from contact with an infected animal, most likely a bat. From there, human to human transmission spreads the disease.
Virus Ecology Graphic
, CDC, August 1, 2014As The Guardian has noted, drugs and vaccines for Ebola has typically been low priority for the main drugs companies although now there is a new focus and sense of urgency:
Until now, pharmaceutical firms have given Ebola very low priority. The few potential drugs and vaccines under development are now being sped into trials. Healthy volunteers in the UK and US have been injected with a candidate vaccine to test safety. Drug trials will soon be set up in west Africa, but they are several months away and there is no certainty that they will work.
As has been mentioned on this site for years, unfortunately diseases affecting the poorest countries the worst have typically received little attention or investment, sometimes as there isn’t any profit in it for drugs companies, which raises a whole set of other issues about drug treatments and access to essential medicines.
Tackling the spread of the Ebola virus
The CDC also notes that strict isolation of infected patients is essential to reduce onward transmission.
In addition, as a number of these countries are quite poor, aid and health assistance is quite essential as resources are limited for already strained budgets and health departments. While aid has been slow to come, aid on its own will not help; there is a general lack of enough trained staff, basic equipment and appropriate medical facilities to handle the number of people needing care. And that doesn’t even cover the additional services that could be needed for thousands of people who have lost many loved ones, including entire families.
News stories from IPS
Below is a list of stories from Inter Press Service related to this latest Ebola virus outbreak.
DR Congo: Efforts ramp up as Ebola outbreak accelerates beyond borders
- UN News
The spread of Ebola is accelerating in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) amid continued armed violence, posing a grave and growing risk to the region, UN agencies warned on Friday.
Ebola treatment capacity expands in DR Congo as WHO issues new guidelines
- UN News
Treatment capacity for the rare and deadly Bundibugyo species of Ebola is expanding in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that community mistrust remains a major challenge to ending the outbreak.
‘Some question if Ebola is real’: how trust is central in fighting DRC outbreak
- UN News
In Ebola-stricken Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), winning the race against the disease requires earning the community’s trust first and foremost, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
The Last Bottle of Halothane: Why Africa Cannot Wait
- Inter Press Service
KAMPALA Uganda, June 16 (IPS) - Global health has a habit of mobilizing around the visible and the dramatic. Ebola, malaria, and Mpox have all dominated headlines related to Africa in recent years, and understandably so. But nobody is talking about one of the most consequential regional health crises waiting to happen.
WHO commends Uganda’s Ebola response, urges vigilance and regional cooperation
- UN News
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has praised Uganda’s response to an Ebola outbreak that has spread from neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while warning that continued vigilance and cross-border cooperation will be critical to stopping transmission.
DR Congo: Ebola spreads as agencies brace for child victims
- UN News
The deadly Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is continuing to spread with a spike in child infections an increasingly likely scenario in the days ahead, UN agencies said on Friday.
We Knew About the Bundibugyo Ebola Virus for 20 Years. Why was There no Vaccine When the Outbreak Began?
- Inter Press Service
WASHINGTON DC, June 9 (IPS) - When the world learned that Ebola was spreading across parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, one fact stood out above all others: there was no approved vaccine for the virus responsible.
Building trust and lab testing at the heart of DRC Ebola response: WHO
- UN News
In Ebola-stricken eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) a massive push for early testing and contact tracing is helping to contain the virus, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
‘Rare, untreatable strain’: Ebola toll mounts in eastern DR Congo
- UN News
The top UN aid official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is in Ituri province – the epicentre of the country's Ebola outbreak – for a three-day assessment visit, as the confirmed case count reaches 515 across three eastern provinces.
Faith, fear and trust: Inside DR Congo’s fight against Ebola
- UN News
In a village in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), health workers arrived a few days ago to help bury a person who had died from Ebola. Instead, they were threatened, told armed rebels would be called if they stayed, and forced to leave.
World News in Brief: UN scales up Ebola response, refugees ‘exiled’ in Africa, Political tensions escalate in Somalia
- UN News
The UN and its partners are continuing efforts to contain Ebola outbreaks in both the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, while warning that insecurity and misinformation remain major obstacles to the response.
‘We are catching up’ – WHO chief on DR Congo’s Ebola fight
- UN News
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is showing signs of progress – but significant challenges remain in testing, surveillance, vaccine development and building community trust.
World News in Brief: Violence hampers Ebola efforts, aid delivery in Darfur and Gaza, Nicaraguan activist’s death in custody
- UN News
Escalating violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to impact civilians and efforts to fight Ebola, UN aid coordination office OCHA said on Tuesday.
DR Congo Ebola outbreak: Nurses discharged after full recovery
- UN News
Four nurses who fell ill with Ebola in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been discharged from hospital after recovering from the often-fatal illness that sparked an international health alert.
‘You are not alone’: WHO chief vows to stand with DR Congo through Ebola outbreak
- UN News
Community trust will be decisive in bringing the rapidly evolving Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo under control, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Saturday, as health teams race to contain the emergency that has spread across multiple provinces and into neighbouring Uganda.
‘A disease you get when you care for someone’: WHO on the Ebola frontline
- UN News
Two weeks into the latest deadly Ebola outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates there are now 906 suspected cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including 223 suspected deaths.
WHO chief calls for ceasefire amid DR Congo Ebola outbreak
- UN News
The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) headed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Thursday as the country continues to combat a deadly resurgence of Ebola in its volatile eastern region where instability is rife.
Ebola outbreak in DR Congo collides with conflict and hunger, WHO warns
- UN News
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday warned that eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo faces a “catastrophic collision of disease and conflict” as a fast-spreading Ebola outbreak outpaces containment efforts in a region already battered by armed violence, mass displacement and acute hunger.
Ebola Outbreak in the DRC Raises Global Health Concerns Amid Conflict and Displacement
- Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, May 26 (IPS) - Since May 16, there has been a significant increase in the number of laboratory-confirmed and suspected Ebola cases reported across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), primarily in Ituri Province, with additional unrelated cases identified in Kampala, Uganda. Although the outbreak has remained largely confined to that region, it has been heavily linked to areas affected by insecurity, civilian displacement, and mining-related migration, raising concerns among global health experts that the outbreak could spread without effective monitoring and response efforts.
International airlines urged to stick to safety measures in wake of Ebola outbreak
- UN News
As a deadly Ebola strain continues to spread in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with cases confirmed in neighbouring Uganda, the UN aviation agency is urging governments and flight operators to closely follow guidelines put in place following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ebola epidemic spreading rapidly and outpacing containment efforts
- UN News
There are more than 900 suspected cases of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and 220 suspected deaths, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Ghebreyesus, said on Monday.
WHO chief calls for urgent Ebola action and pandemic preparedness
- UN News
The recent Ebola and hantavirus outbreaks demonstrate that the world is still vulnerable to rapidly spreading infectious diseases, Tedros Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), warned on Saturday at the close of the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva.
Ebola risk ‘very high’ in eastern DR Congo as UN intensifies response
- UN News
The UN is rushing emergency personnel, funding and supplies into eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to counter the fast-growing Ebola outbreak spreading through conflict-ravaged provinces.
UN agencies step up Ebola response in eastern DR Congo
- UN News
United Nations agencies have moved swiftly to support efforts to contain the latest Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), delivering emergency medical supplies, protective equipment and logistics support.
Ebola risk is high inside DR Congo but it’s no pandemic emergency: WHO
- UN News
The deadly Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda does not represent a global pandemic emergency, although the risk is high at a regional and national level, the UN health agency chief said on Wednesday.
Ebola outbreak: ‘Every epidemic begins in a community and ends in a community’
- UN News
Facing a fast-moving Ebola outbreak caused by a rare strain of the virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) is relying on a rapid, community-centred response to halt transmission in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, a senior official has told UN News.
DRC Ebola outbreak: hundreds of suspected cases, no vaccine
- UN News
A fast-spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has health workers rushing to stop transmission while the roll out of any potential vaccine is months away, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
Ebola outbreak follows hunger and displacement crisis in DR Congo
- UN News
A day after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo an international emergency, top global disease transmission experts stressed that the chances of another global pandemic similar to the 2019 coronavirus emergency are increasing all the time.
WHO assembly opens under shadow of Ebola, hantavirus and funding cuts
- UN News
From Ebola outbreaks in Central Africa to the complex evacuation of passengers aboard a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) opened its annual assembly on Monday as countries grapple with disease outbreaks, deep funding cuts and growing geopolitical tension.
Ebola outbreak in Central Africa declared a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’
- UN News
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, citing rising cases, cross-border spread and significant uncertainties about the scale of the epidemic.
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