Health workers face greatest risk as they save and protect lives
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa continues its relentless spread, pushing the death toll over 3,400. AmeriCares is sending emergency medical aid to Sierra Leone and Liberia, including personal protective equipment for health workers at great risk in the battle to contain the deadly disease. The Ebola outbreak, declared to be an international public health emergency by the World Health Organization, has already infected more than 370 health workers and killed 216, including doctors and nurses.
Our Emergency Response Team has been on the ground in Liberia and Sierra Leone working with partners, coordinating the delivery of more supplies and mapping response strategies in high level meetings, including a briefing with Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Confirmed cases and fatalities have been reported in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria and Senegal and aid organizations in the field warn that official case and fatality figures may greatly underestimate the true scale of the outbreak. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) projects that up to 1.4 million people in Liberia and Sierra Leone could become infected by 2015 if more isn’t done to stop the spread of the disease.
AmeriCares has scaled up its response by providing eight emergency shipments of essential medicines and personal protective wear to to both Liberia and Sierra Leone to help treat Ebola patients and to provide protective gear for health workers facing great risks in trying to control the outbreak.
The shipments contained over 90,000 pairs of gloves, 88,000 face masks, and over 28,000 units of protective clothing including scrubs and disposable coveralls and gowns. Shipments of intravenous fluids to rehydrate Ebola patients have also been sent to Liberia and Sierra Leone.
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AmeriCares is also currently building two shipments of Clorox Regular Bleach for partners in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Each 40-foot sea container includes 6,000 bottles of Clorox Bleach, as well as PPE and medical supplies. Chlorine solutions made with bleach are essential for infection control and are used for hand washing, disinfecting PPE, and sanitizing Ebola treatment centers. In addition, a first shipment is being prepared for Guinea with protective gear, supplies and medicines.
“With more than 7,500 people infected already and the virus spreading rapidly, there is virtually an endless demand for safety equipment,” said AmeriCares Vice President of Emergency Response Garrett Ingoglia. “If we don’t support the frontline health workers, there is no hope for controlling the epidemic.”
In Sierra Leone and Liberia, where leaders have declared a state of emergency, health care providers report personal protection equipment is in short supply and has been extremely difficult to access with the increased demand. Through its partnership with Cardinal Health, AmeriCares has sent multiple shipments of supplies, including surgical gloves, masks and isolation gowns, to the affected area with more shipments planned.
The fragile health systems in the region are ill-equipped to handle a health crisis of this scale, and the shortage of critical supplies and loss of skilled health workers continues to hamper the best efforts to contain the disease. The damage to the health system also severely limits its capacity to handle other critical health needs such as prenatal care, births, chronic disease or malaria treatment.
AmeriCares first response to the outbreak in May included the purchase and distribution of protective gear and medical supplies for health workers in Liberia as well as support for public messaging campaigns to spread awareness about the disease for which there is no cure.
Deadly Ebola Virus
Since the first outbreak in 1976, the Ebola virus has one of the highest fatality rates—up to 90%. The current outbreak has a 55% death rate. There is currently no vaccine and no proven cure.
Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with blood, body fluids and tissues of infected persons.
Bodies can remain contagious for up to 60 days.
Ebola has an incubation period of 2-21 days. Symptoms include fever, weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat.
There are five strains of Ebola virus, three of which have been associated with large outbreaks of the virus in Africa.
Supportive care such as rehydration for patients who have diarrhea and vomiting can help recovery in some cases.
*Source: WHO