Doctors Rush to Contain Ebola Virus Outbreak
Pastor Dale Morgan
Doctors Rush to Contain Ebola Virus Outbreak*
By MARIA CHENG,
AP Medical Writer AP
LONDON - With only two patients left in an isolation ward Tuesday,
doctors are hopeful an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Congo may
soon be contained.
But because people can carry Ebola for up to three weeks before getting
sick, experts say it's too soon to consider the outbreak over.
"We are close to controlling the Ebola outbreak," Dr. Michel Van Herp,
an epidemiologist with Medecins Sans Frontieres, said Monday. "But we
remain vigilant because the virus is still circulating."
Van Herp recently spent three weeks helping track the virus in Kampungu,
the outbreak's epicenter.
To date, health officials in Congo have confirmed 25 cases, including
one announced on Tuesday. Six people have died.
Officials at the World Health Organization first became aware of the
outbreak in August. Since then, dozens of international epidemiologists
and other public health experts have flown to Congo to help contain the
virus.
Experts are encouraged with their education efforts about the disease.
They say the word is getting out about the importance of seeking medical
help if people develop symptoms including fever, muscle aches, intense
weakness or a sore throat.
One woman recently walked into the isolation ward by herself after
becoming symptomatic, said Dr. Dominique Legros, a medical
epidemiologist from WHO.
"She didn't want to infect anyone else who might have had to carry her,"
he said from Congo. "We think that's a very good sign that the
population understands how serious this is."
About 200 people are still being watched closely by health authorities.
Every day, health teams visit about 20 villages within a radius of about
20 miles around Kampungu.
Fighting Ebola has been complicated by the presence of other diseases
like shigella, typhoid, and malaria. All of those diseases have symptoms
similar to Ebola in the early stages.
"Ebola is never a nice disease, and having other things to handle has
made the outbreak more difficult," said Rosa Crestani, a nurse with
Medecins Sans Frontieres who has been working in Kampungu. She spoke by
phone from Congo.
The Zaire subtype of Ebola that has been detected in the Congo can kill
up to 90 percent of people infected. The virus attacks the body's
internal organs, and can cause bleeding from the ears, eyes and elsewhere.
Ebola is transmitted by close contact with infected animals or humans.
Experts are not sure how the current outbreak began, but think that it
may have started when villagers in the area ate an infected animal. It
was then probably spread at several funerals, where people typically
touch the body during the burial ceremony.
Health Minister Makwenge Kaput said those living in the affected area
have started taking strict measures to avoid unnecessary contact with
others.
"People are no longer shaking hands when they greet, but using their
elbows, or nothing at all, because of fear of Ebola," the minister told
reporters in Congo's capital city of Kinshasa.
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Associated Press Writer Eddy Isango contributed to this report from
Kinshasa, Congo.