West Africa’s Ebola crisis is a harbinger of future outbreaks and a test of how well Canada will do against worse infections, says The Tyee’s Crawford Kilian
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) recommended July 31, 2014 that Canadians avoid all non-essential travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone due to an ongoing Ebola virus outbreak in the region.
Ebola virus disease (formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever) is a severe, often fatal illness, with a case fatality rate of up to 90%. The infection is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected animals or people. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Ebola is one of the world’s most virulent diseases.
The risk of infection is low for most travellers, according to Canada’s public health agency, although the risk may increase for those who are working in a health care setting in affected areas since most human infections result from direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected patients.
CBC news reports that authorities in Nigeria on Monday (August 4, 2014) announced a second case of Ebola in Africa’s most populous country, an alarming setback as the total death toll from the disease has shot up by more than 150 to 887 in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria. BBC news reports that the US has announced plans to send at least 50 public health experts to West Africa to help fight the worst-ever outbreak of Ebola, adding that a senior US health official said the outbreak was out of control but insisted it could be stopped.
The World Bank has pledged (on Tuesday August 5, 2014) $200 million to help contain the deadly virus, which is causing panic across West Africa, while AFP quotes Sierra Leone’s president as saying that the regional epidemic threatens the “very essence” of his nation.
We speak with Crawford Kilian, a contributing editor at The Tyee, who takes a broad look at the Ebola outbreak in an article called Ebola Outbreak: This Is Just the Prequel.
ebola outbreak – crawford kilian
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