The World Health Organization has released a statement saying that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is raising major concerns that the virus could have an international spread.
The WHO said they are “gravely concerned” about the outbreak that has now killed over 400 people in the deadliest outbreak in world history. The outbreak, which began in Guinea earlier this year, has now spread into Sierra Leone and Liberia. Officials now say that the virus could begin to appear in other nations.
“There is an urgent need to intensify response efforts…this is the only way that the outbreak will be effectively addressed,” WHO officials stated.
The statement from the WHO comes just days after Doctors Without Borders said the outbreak was “out of control.”
Doctors said the only positive in the current outbreak is that unlike previous Ebola outbreaks with had 95 percent death rate, the current outbreak’s rate is 60 percent.
Doctors with Borders say the Ebola outbreak in west Africa is now “totally out of control.”
“The reality is clear that the epidemic is now in a second wave,” Bart Janssens of Doctors Without Borders said. “And, for me, it is totally out of control.”
The group also said they are being stretched to the limit in their ability to respond to the outbreak. They’re issuing a call for other international aid groups to help them try to contain the outbreak and treat the infected patients.
“It’s the first time in an Ebola epidemic where (Doctors Without Borders) teams cannot cover all the needs, at least for treatment centers,” Janssens said.
He added there is a significant increase in the problem.
“I’m absolutely convinced that this epidemic is far from over and will continue to kill a considerable amount of people, so this will definitely end up the biggest ever,” Janssens said.
Janssens said the World Health Organization, which acknowledged this week that the death toll with this outbreak is the highest in world history, is not doing enough to motivate the leaders of the infected countries to stop the spread.
A Christian organization has announced they are stepping up to help the outbreak of a lethal virus in Africa.
Samaritan’s Purse announced the will be sending emergency medical supplies and also sending staff and materials to launch an awareness campaign in an attempt to stop the spread of the Ebola virus.
“This is a very serious situation that could become even more critical in the coming days,” Samaritan’s Purse head Franklin Graham said in a statement. “Our team in Liberia is committed to doing all we can to share God’s love with Liberian people by providing medical support and other relief.”
Samaritan’s Purse said the want to contain the outbreak to the capital of Monrovia and the surrounding county where seven people out of 14 cases have died.
The outbreak has been called the worst Ebola outbreak in history according to the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders. They said the spread of the virus across four nations thus far is complicating efforts to contain the virus.
The outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Africa is growing into more of a concern for world leaders.
Mali reported their first possible cases of Ebola since the beginning of an outbreak in neighboring Guinea. Government officials have isolated three people in Mali as they await confirmation testing from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.
Guinea reported their 90th death from the outbreak leading Doctors Without Borders to say this could become an unprecedented epidemic in a region that has extremely poor health care systems.
The outbreak has reached a point that foreign mining companies in Guinea have closed their operations and pulled their employees to their home nations. French officials say they are preparing screening at the airports for travels from the former French colonies.
In addition to Guinea, confirmed cases have been found in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Liberia confirmed three new deaths in the last 24 hours bringing their total to four.
DWB officials are concerned with the dense living conditions in cities where the virus has been found because it will be hard to stop the virus should it break out in a crowded living area.
