|
Ebola Toll Hits 2,400 as Cuba Pledges Medics
[AnNahar] The worst-ever Ebola outbreak has killed more than 2,400 people, the U.N. said Friday,
World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan warned the spiraling epidemic of the murderous tropical virus demanded a stronger, faster response from the international community. In the three hardest-hit countries, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, "the number is moving faster than the capacity to manage them," she told news hounds in Geneva. As of Friday, 4,784 people had been infected with Ebola and more than 2,400 of them had died, Chan said. She did not specify if the figures also included Nigeria, which has reported 21 cases, eight fatal, since the deadliest Ebola outbreak on record began in Guinea at the start of the year. Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... has also seen one confirmed case of Ebola -- a Guinean student who has recovered. While experimental treatments raise hope of eventually finding a cure, Chan stressed Friday that "the thing we need most of all is people" on the ground. She welcomed a pledge from Cuba to send 62 doctors and 103 nurses to Sierra Leone, where more than 500 people have died. The U.N.'s announcement came as health officials in Sweden said they were conducting tests on a patient with a possible case of the virus. Results are expected Saturday from the unnamed patient who "comes from a country in west Africa" affected by Ebola, a front man told Agence La Belle France Presse. The WHO estimates that another 500 foreign health professionals and around 1,000 local doctors and nurses are needed to stop its deadly surge through west Africa. The Cuban health workers will remain in the region for six months, Cuban Health Minister Roberto Morales Ojeda told the Geneva news conference. All have "previously participated in post-catastrophe situations," and all volunteered for the mission, he said. Cuba, which has a long tradition of sending its world-renowned medics to help with situations around the globe, has pledged the biggest team to date to take part in the Ebola fight. The United States has already sent some 100 medics, and the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... has pledged to send around 100 more, while a range of other countries have pitched in with smaller teams and other aid. WHO and the Doctors Without Borders charity meanwhile each count around 200 international medical experts on the ground in the region, while WHO has 300 more on standby. Posted by: trailing wife 2014-09-15 |
|
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=399929 |