Ebola Virus infection .
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Over 90 people have died so far in West Africas Ebola outbreak, which Doctors Without Borders (also known as MSF) is calling "unprecedented." And the deadly disease, reports indicate, is continuing to spread.
Ebola is a frightening disease: It is one of the worlds most lethal viruses, and the CDC ranks it among anthrax and smallpox as a Category A bioterrorism agent. As some have pointed out, however, other diseases are taking a much bigger toll in the developing world. Ebola has killed 1,500 people in total since it was first documented in 1976. But the dramatic nature of Ebola aside, health workers say there are a number of reasons to believe this latest outbreak is particularly concerning:
It is widespread.
The outbreak began in Guinea two months ago, and has since crossed international borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia, where it is so far killed seven people. Now, Mali, another neighboring country, is reporting its first suspected cases as well.
Because Ebola is not airborne — it can only be transmitted through direct contact with the blood or body secretions of someone who is infected — containing it is theoretically simple: health workers need to identify all possible cases and quarantine them. The widespread distribution of the outbreak complicates this, as does the fact that it is being found in urban centers instead of remote, rural areas.
"This is the first time Ebola is detected in Guinea, so the population and the medical staff do not know the disease," Esther Sterk, a tropical medicine adviser for Doctors Without Borders, explained to NPR. At least 11 healthcare workers are among those infected, mostly likely because, as one expert explains, "they did not know what they were dealing with."
There is also a large amount of stigma and fear associated with Ebola, Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations, explained to Bloomberg News. That attitude could cause patients to seek care in hospitals far away from their local communities, further spreading the disease. "If those hospitals are not aware of what is coming," Garrett added, "they will quickly become cauldrons, and spread the virus internally." To help counteract that problem, NPR reports, anthropologists are being flown into Guinea alongside health workers to help them contain the outbreak in a "culturally sensitive and appropriate" way.
The only way to protect people is to keep them from getting it in the first place.
The containment issue is so important because there is no vaccine available to protect people from Ebola; there is also no available treatment or cure. Once contracted, the disease kills about 90 percent of patients.
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