Ebola ‘far ahead’ of global efforts
Print Edition
COUNTRIES across the world scrambled yesterday to stem a deadly Ebola outbreak that is getting worse “every day,” as the condition of a Spanish nurse infected with the disease improved.
Travellers were screened and safety drills carried out as a UN official just back from west Africa warned the disease, which has killed more than 4,000 people there, was outpacing efforts to fight it.
“The virus is far ahead of us and every day the situation gets worse,” the head of the United Nations’ emergency Ebola mission, Anthony Banbury, told UN leaders after a tour of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, the nations worst hit by the epidemic.
“Collectively we must stop the spread to other countries and ensure that countries are prepared to rapidly detect, control and eliminate the virus if it is introduced.”
A suspect case was ruled out in Brazil, where a Guinean man tested negative for Ebola, the health ministry said, but fears of contagion persisted in Europe.
Attention there focused on Madrid-based nurse Teresa Romero, 44, the first person diagnosed as having caught the disease outside Africa.
Spanish government officials were locked in a meeting yesterday to coordinate their response to the crisis.
Romero’s condition “improved in the night. She is conscious and talks from time to time when she is in a good mood,” a hospital source said. Her condition “is serious but is improving,” the source added.
Sixteen other people, mostly hospital staff, are under observation at the Carlos III hospital where Romero is being treated.
Doctors started treating Romero with the experimental Ebola treatment ZMapp late on Friday, the source added.
Romero is thought to have contracted the disease in a Madrid hospital while caring for a missionary infected with Ebola in Africa who later died.
The WHO said 4,033 people have died from Ebola as of October 8, out of a total of 8,399 registered cases in seven countries.
The sharp rise in deaths came as the UN said aid pledges have fallen well short of the US$1 billion needed.
Britain yesterday held an eight-hour Ebola exercise featuring actors and medical staff at locations around the country.
And Britain and the United States have boosted screenings at major airports such as London Heathrow and JFK in New York.
Peru and Uruguay announced similar measures and Mexico and Nicaragua planned to tighten controls of migrants heading for US soil.
Canada advised its citizens to leave west African countries most affected by Ebola and took measures at its own borders.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
