Africa’s Ongoing Ebola Outbreak Is the Worst the World Has Ever Seen
Since February there have been 544 laboratory-confirmed cases of the disease in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia
By Colin Schultz
Smithsonian.com
July 2, 2014
It started in February, when the Ebola virus started spreading through the forested regions of southeastern Guinea, in West Africa. By late March 29 people had died and 49 were infected. For months the death toll climbed, but by spring the outbreak seemed to be waning. In June the virus’ spread again picked up the pace, and now, says the BBC, the ongoing Ebola outbreak that is affecting Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone is “the biggest and most deadly Ebola outbreak the world has seen.”
As of yesterday, the World Health Organization says that there have been 544 laboratory-confirmed cases of the disease, where 291 of those people have died. In total, there are 759 people suspected to have been been infected with the disease, with 467 deaths.
The lack of a structured health care system in the region is making it harder to fight the disease’s spread, says Maggie Fox for NBC News. In one instance, she says, medical “ team members arrived in at least one village to find it deserted, and the body of an Ebola victim left unattended in a house.”
“It’s not hard to imagine what happened, but it makes it impossible to track down people who might have been infected and get them to hospitals for what care can be provided, and to prevent them from infecting others.”
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