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Ebola outbreak in West Africa has become a major concern

Ebola outbreak in West Africa has become a major concern according to the World Health Organization (WHO),after scores of people died due to the Ebola virus. It is believed that the virus originated from Sierra Leone where 14 women who had attended a traditional healer burial near Guinea, were believed to have been infected.

The New York Times has reported that 78 patients who were diagnosed with the virus have been treated in Kenema government hospital in Sierra Leone close to the borders of Liberia and Guinea. The New York Times also reported that Dr W. Ian Lipkin from Columbia University said that it was frightening that a single event catalyzed a whole outbreak in West Africa. Medical experts discovered that the Ebola strain in West Africa was a different strain from the one that had occurred in Central Africa since the mid 1970’s. DrPardi C. Sabeti suspects that the virus might have been circulating in forest animals including apes and bats. She also added that it could also have been circulating in Humans with little or no notice making the strain stronger.

Scientists have come up with current tests which will be used to diagnose Ebola and vaccines will be based on the Central African Strain. However the test might not reveal a clear positive if the patient has a ‘low viral load’ during the initial stages of infection.

Senegal has been affected by the Ebola virus for the first time since its outbreak in July. Statistics show that 1552 people have died from the virus as of August 26, 2014. Affected countries include Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Guinea and Liberia. Liberia has been affected the most with 694 deaths, Sierra Leone 422 deaths, Guinea 430, and Nigeria 6 deaths.

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