Ebola: Deadly, no cure, no vaccine – WHO team in Sierra Leone fighting virus

Ebolka
Ebolka
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Written by Linda Hohnholz

Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Doctors Without Borders are arriving in Eastern Sierra Leone to face the outbreak of the Ebola virus there.

Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Doctors Without Borders are arriving in Eastern Sierra Leone to face the outbreak of the Ebola virus there.

Nearly 200 people have died of Ebola in West Africa since an outbreak was first reported in Guinea in March.

There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola – one of the world’s deadliest viruses.

But people have a better chance of surviving if it is identified early and they receive medical attention.

Ebola can kill up to 90% of those infected and is passed on through contact with the fluids of infected people or animals, such as urine, sweat and blood.

The medical teams are expected to arrive in a remote part of Sierra Leone later on Thursday.

Just touching the body of an infected person can cause deadly transmission, so the experts will be covered from head to foot in protective clothing, the BBC’s Mark Doyle reports.

But they are facing another obstacle even before they start work, following the removal from a clinic of the six suspected patients.

Guinea has been worst-affected, with 258 suspected and confirmed cases of Ebola, including 174 deaths – 146 of which have been laboratory-confirmed positive.

In Liberia, there have been 12 suspected cases, with nine deaths.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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