In the DRC, in Western Kasai Province,health officials are trying to contain an Ebola outbreak. The World HealthOrganization says of 42 patients, five cases of Ebola have been confirmed ,12others are probable cases and 25 more are suspected cases of Ebola.
GregoryHertl, WHO spokesperson for epidemic and pandemic diseases, spoke from Genevato VOA English to Africa Service reporter Joe De Capua about how hard it is todiagnose a case of Ebola.
?Certainly,on the ground, when you?re there in the middle in the jungle or a very isolatedlocation, there are many diseases which are endemic in that part of the world.It is difficult to make a snap and accurate diagnosis of something being Ebola.Certainly, also, in the early phases of the disease, there are actually manydiseases which have similar presentation?which is basically a spike in fever,plus vomiting and diarrhea. It?s only in the later stages of Ebola do you startto see the tell-tale hemorrhagic symptoms ? bleeding,? he says.
Hertlsays that the first response when a suspected Ebola outbreak is reported is toget health professionals ?on the ground.? But that?s not always easy to doright away. He says, ?Unfortunately, many of these outbreaks occur in extremelyremote locations where very few people have access. So it takes a while to getpeople on the ground. But if we had people on the ground at the start of this,we would want to isolate suspected cases so that there was no possibility of transmittingthe disease onward. We would want to institute proper?infection controlprocedures in hospitals so that no hospital workers were infected. We wouldwant to do a laboratory testing to confirm that this was indeed Ebola.?
TheWHO spokesperson says that the WHO and others would also work with thecommunities to make sure they understand what Ebola is and ?what measures theyneed to take in order to not contract Ebola themselves and to stop the diseasefrom spreading further.?
There?sno treatment for Ebola. Hertl says, ?There?s no anti-viral medication. There?sno vaccine that one can be given beforehand. So, all you can do is hope thatthe body?s defenses will fight off the virus. And we know that unfortunatelythe virus can kill?up to 90 percent of the people it infects.?
It?snot only deadly, it?s easily transmissible. ?They can?t even touch someone elsebecause the virus is transmissible even by the touch of the skin,? he says.
It?sbeen difficult to pinpoint the source of Ebola in the bush or jungle. Hertlsays, ?It might come from contaminated bushmeat, but we?ve also seen otherroutes of transmission, certainly, even more so, more plainly, with Marburg(virus). Because Marburg, which is a very close cousin of Ebola, also can betransmitted by bats. If bats urinate on fruit, which is then eaten?or you comein contact with bat feces through one means or another, then the disease canalso be transmitted that way. But certainly, yes, one of the first ways that wesaw Ebola being transmitted was through bushmeat,? he says.
It?sdifficult to educate communities in the bush to avoid the disease, due to itsvery nature of transmission. ?What you really only can do is try to help them,often times after the fact, understand what can be done in order not totransmit it further, not to endanger the family, loved ones, community,? hesays.
In areas where there have beenprevious outbreaks, communities often know what Ebola is and what steps to taketo prevent its spread. ?But in any time that Ebola first surfaces in an areawhich has never had it before, that?s a big issue,? he says.