An epidemic of the Ebola virus continues unabated in West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), the death toll reached 932 on Wednesday, August 6, 2014. This makes this Ebola outbreak the most severe in recorded history in regard to both the number of human cases and fatalities.
Amref Health Africa’s in West Africa hub is headquartered in Senegal and according to Country Director Dr Mor Ngom, no cases have been reported in that country yet. He is in constant communication with the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Dakar and in Guinea, where a school health programme was launched earlier this year but halted when the Ebola virus struck in March 2014.
Amref Health Africa’s concerns are for affected communities, for its staff and dependents, and for the health workers. Using our experiences garnered during the two Ebola epidemics of 2000 and 2012 in Uganda, Amref Health Africa’s Executive Committee has therefore advised the technical leadership in West Africa to support the MOH and other stakeholders in the following areas of intervention:
- Supporting Ministries of Health in the implementation of their Contingency Plans through participation in coordination meetings and emergency committees at national and local levels
- Cross-border surveillance
- Protection of staff (MOH and Amref Health Africa)
- Training of health providers in infection prevention and control. This includes providing guidelines on specimen collection, storage and transportation for safe delivery of samples to reference laboratories for confirmation
- Controlling the epidemic through early detection, isolation, treatment of new infection, and contact training, including safe handling of body fluids and the remains of those who die
- Counselling for Ebola survivors and their relatives
- Psychosocial support to fight stigma
- Mobilisation of community support through community village leaders, working alongside village health teams
- Keeping Amref Health Africa offices updated with latest information and providing advice to travellers to Amref Health Africa offices in Africa.
Expectations of the MOH, communities and other stakeholders regarding Amref Health Africa’s technical and financial contributions are high. While we can avail the technical support with ease, we are constrained in providing financial help without support from our donors and benefactors.
About Ebola
Ebola is one of a group of viral haemorrhagic fevers, which in Africa include Lassa Fever, Rift Valley Fever, Marburg and Ebola, Crimean-Congo and Yellow Fever, each transmitted through various specific routes. The natural reservoir of Ebola is most likely wild fruit bats; humans may contract the virus directly from infected bats, or secondarily from bush animals that are infected by bats. Human-to-human infection sustained when people come into contact with blood or other body fluids (urine, sweat, vomit or sweat) from infected people. Outbreaks of Ebola have been reported in various countries over the last 20 years including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and South Sudan.
Severely ill patients require intensive care. The fatality rate is very high, up to 90 per cent, and there is no available licensed treatment or vaccine for use.
The current outbreak of Ebola in West Arica was confirmed in Guinea on 21 March, 2014, and quickly spread to neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone. New cases have also been reported in Nigeria. Despite concerted efforts to contain the spread of the disease and manage sick individuals by the World Health Organization, Ministries of Health and other partners in affected countries, the threat of spread of Ebola is real through the enormous human traffic between countries in Africa.
The countries affected by the current epidemic have put in place Contingency Plans that involve partners and various strategies including surveillance at ports of entry, in health facilities and in the communities; laboratory confirmation and case management; infection prevention and control; advocacy, communication and social mobilisation; coordination and resource mobilisation. In support of the above, various documents are being strengthened and disseminated including information sheets for health workers and the public, port of entry screening tools, infection control guidelines, and disease surveillance and response tools.