Ebola spread also in Germany?

Expert gives all-clear: Ebola will not spread in Europe

01/08/2014

In Africa, the Ebola virus is spreading. So far, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have been affected. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1,200 people have been infected with Ebola and more than 670 have died. In Germany too, the fear of the spread of the disease is growing. However, experts give the all-clear. „The Ebola virus will not spread in Europe“, Prof. Stephan Günther from the Hamburg Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine writes on the website of the institute.

Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with sick or deceased
Ebola is an infectious disease associated with very high fever and, in severe cases, internal bleeding. Up to 90 percent of sufferers do not survive the infection. Because a cure is not available so far. Doctors can only alleviate the typical Ebola symptoms. The dangerous virus is transmitted through contact with blood or other bodily fluids of those affected or deceased. On the other hand, experts exclude transmission through the respiratory air according to current knowledge.

„The virus is difficult to transmit from person to person, so not like a cold or flu. You always have to have direct contact with a person or the infectious bodily fluids such as blood, urine, diarrhea“, informs Günther. „In Africa, the virus is transmitted in the care of family sufferers, the family members' washing of the deceased and direct contact with the deceased at the funerals.“ Therefore, the concern that Ebola could also spread in Germany, unfounded. „It is possible that the virus will be imported into Europe with an infected person, but it will not spread here.“

Even when traveling to Africa there is no high risk of getting sick if you follow certain rules. „Since most Ebola epidemics were triggered by contact with infected apes, one should therefore avoid touching sick or dead monkeys and preparing raw monkey meat“, advises the expert. „Likewise one should avoid contact with fruit bats. There were cases in which tourists, with the sister virus of Ebola, had infected the Marburg virus after visiting caves in Africa.“ The Marburg virus belongs to the family of RNA viruses, which also includes the Ebola virus, and causes similar symptoms as hemorrhagic fever. In addition, it was necessary to avoid direct contact with the sick or deceased.

Fear of Ebola spread even in France
The fear of an Ebola outbreak is also growing in France. The local government spoke of heightened vigilance. Currently „the risk of introduction of the virus to Europe and France low“, French health minister Marisol Touraine told the newspaper „Le Parisien“. „However, extreme vigilance is required in view of this very serious and at the same time very contagious disease that is spreading in Africa.“ The medical staff is on standby if any of the returnees experience Ebola symptoms. France has all the medical options to treat the infectious disease, the Health Minister assured.

African countries take the highest security precautions
The aid organization „Doctors Without Borders“ Warns against a further spread of Ebola within Africa. So far, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are affected. The African countries responded immediately. The authorities in Liberia on Wednesday ordered the closure of schools and markets. Football matches were also banned. All available government employees were also sent on forced leave for 30 days to disinfect all public buildings on Friday.

In Sierra Leone, however, President Ernest Bai Koroma called for the national health emergency. In the east of the country, according to the British broadcaster BBC entire regions are quarantined. In addition, the body temperature should be measured at the airports for all arriving passengers, as high fever is considered the main symptom of Ebola.

Despite security precautions, more and more helpers are getting infected with Ebola
As announced this week, the leading physician in the fight against the infectious disease in Sierra Leone, Sheikh Umar Khan, died last Tuesday. More and more helpers are in spite of high security precautions with the virus. So did the senior physician in the fight against the epidemic in Liberia, Samuel Brisbane, who also succumbed to the disease.

The US Peace Corps announced Wednesday that it is withdrawing hundreds of volunteers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea due to the Ebola outbreak. The situation should continue to be monitored with experts from the American health authority CDC and the State Department in Washington. Currently, 102 agricultural, educational and health volunteers in Guinea are working for the development aid organization. 108 volunteers are currently working in Liberia and 130 volunteers in Sierra Leone. (Ag)