German virologist Ebola epidemic devastating

More and more victims: devastating Ebola outbreak

08/10/2014

The Ebola epidemic, which is rampant in West Africa, is calling for more and more victims. Almost 1,000 people have already succumbed to the epidemic. A German virologist working in Africa calls the current outbreak „devastating“.

German virologist works in the crisis area
Especially in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the Ebola epidemic continues to demand new victims. In the meantime, the first deaths have been reported from Nigeria. The German virologist Thomas Strecker from the University of Marburg is testing blood samples for the dangerous pathogen in the crisis area, in the town of Guéckédou in Guinea. According to a report by the dpa news agency, he said: „This Ebola outbreak is devastating in its entirety.“ Strecker, at the „European mobile laboratory“, a project funded by the EU, continues: „It is sad to see that more and more people become infected despite the measures.“

Heaviest ever recorded outbreak
The current Ebola epidemic in West Africa is the heaviest ever outbreak of the dangerous infectious disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) has so far reported 1,779 confirmed and suspected cases from the affected countries, with at least 961 people already dead. For decades researchers have been dealing with the disease worldwide. Although it has long been known that typical Ebola symptoms initially include flu-like symptoms such as body aches, headaches, sore throats and fevers, the disease often leads to massive diarrhea, blood in the stool and urine, nausea and vomiting, and internal and external bleeding. But there is no medication or vaccine against Ebola yet.

Ebola is an international health emergency
The WHO has recently, as under the headline „Ebola Global Emergency - Low Risk in Europe“ responded with its harshest tool to the Ebola epidemic and declared the epidemic an international health emergency. Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General, said in Geneva that it absolutely needed to prevent its spread to other parts of the world. Already affected countries would need extensive help. People in Europe are not threatened by Ebola, as various authorities and institutions emphasized. The risk for citizens in the EU is „extremely low“ EU Health Commissioner Tonio Borg said. (Ad)