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Ebola shifts in different regions, east to west, rural to urban

Ebola shifts in different regions, east to west, rural to urban

Posted August. 04, 2014 04:56,   

한국어

It has been revealed that the Ebola virus has recently shifted to regions outside the expectations of the World Health Organization investigators. With appearances of the virus, which kills 90 percent of its afflicted, in regions even experts had not expected, panic is spreading fast.

According to a recent situation report published by the WHO, the Ebola virus, which had been concentrated in eastern Africa and rural regions, have now spread to western Africa and urban areas. This year, the Ebola virus was first found in western Africa. The first infected patient was reported in Guinea in February, and the disease spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. They are all in western Africa.

Among western African nations, there was one infected person in Côte d`Ivoire in 1994, but that patient survived. Since first being found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1976, outbreaks were concentrated in eastern Africa and Central African nations, such as Sudan, Uganda, Congo, and Gabon. This is the first time that the Ebola virus has infected multiple people in large cities such as Monrovia in Liberia and Freetown in Sierra Leone. The virus was mostly found in rural areas before, with group deaths of 397 villagers and medical teams in the countryside of Sudan and Congo. Recent outbreaks have been reported mainly in cities, which with their large influx of population and frequent movements, may allow the contagion to spread that much faster.

Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organisation, said she planned to convene an emergency committee on Wednesday as per the regulations on international health.

Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone have announced national emergency situations. In order to cut off the spread of the virus, they have quarantined virus epicenters that are on their borders and are restricting access of laypeople. U.S. doctor Kent Brantly, who was infected while treating Ebola patients in Liberia, has been transported to the U.S. on Saturday local time. This is spreading anxiety on the virus in the U.S. as well. A U.S. aid worker who infected, Nancy Writebol, is also scheduled to be transported to the U.S. in a few days.