The effective measures adopted by local communities together with the international response to the Ebola epidemic, have slowed the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in Liberia, one of the worst affected West-African countries, according to the statement by the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday.
Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the director of C.D.C., opined that an earlier worse-case prediction by the agency that the Ebola outbreak could reach 1.4 million cases by late January 2015 if effective steps were not taken to check its spread was not applicable any more.
According to the health officials they are not sure of the spread of infection in Guinea, another West-African affected country. Dr. Frieden stated that in Sierra Leone “both their epidemic and their response are several weeks behind Liberia.” He further stated that he expected an increase in international help to the country, especially from UK, to contain the spread of the disease.
Still, the U.S. health officials and defence warned that Ebola remained a crucial health crisis in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Dr. Thomas R. Frieden commented that according to estimates, about 1,000 to 2,000 fresh cases of Ebola are reported every week, and majority of them are from Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Going by the recent update on Ebola by the World Health Organization that it posted on its website Wednesday, the confirmed, possible and suspected cases numbered 15,145, with 5,420 infected patients losing their lives, till Sunday. Almost all the cases were reported from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea with two casualties in the U.S.
The update also said that with the reported cases not on the rise in Liberia or Guinea, “transmission remains intense and widespread in Sierra Leone”.
The update further said that minimum 584 health care employees, who face the maximum risk of contracting the deadly disease, had been infected, with 329 losing their lives.
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