Friday, 8 August 2014

WHO declares Ebola an International Health Emergency

The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola

Epidemic an International Health Emergency, stating that "a

coordinated international response is deemed essential to

stop and reverse the international spread of Ebola" which

has killed almost a 1000 people in four west African

countries.

At an emergency meeting today August 8th, the Geneva

based UN health agency said the declaration of an

international emergency will help in raising the level of

vigilance for transmission of the virus.

WHO advised countries identified to have been infested by

the deadly Ebola virus - Guinea, Nigeria, Sierra Lieone and

Liberia - to declare a state of emergency and that there

should be no general ban on international travel or trade on

these countries. Continue...

Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's head of health security in a

telephone interview with reporters stressed that Ebola is not

a mysterious disease and that with the right steps and

measures to deal with infected people, Ebola's spread could

be stopped.

"This is not a mysterious disease. This is an infectious

disease that can be contained. t is not a virus that is

spread through the air." he said

The WHO says this current outbreak is the most severe in the

almost 40 years since Ebola was first identified in

humans majorly due to the weaknesses in health facilities of

the countries currently affected. It also said inexperience in

dealing with Ebola outbreaks and misconceptions of the

disease, including how it is transmitted, "continue to be a

major challenge in some countries".



Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN

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