Ebola WARNING: Harvard professor says disease could go GLOBAL including US and Europe
A DEADLY outbreak of Ebola currently ravaging the Democratic Republic of Congo could go global and spread to countries including the US and Europe, a top Harvard professor has warned.
By David Rivers
DailyStar.co.uk
28th May 2018
Dr Ashish Jah said the spread of the disease to the urban city of Mbandaka last week poses serious concerns as to how far it spreads.
The World Health Organisation said today there have been 22 confirmed, probable or suspected deaths from Ebola since April 4.
But Dr Jah warned it could spread to Europe and the US if it reaches the Congolese capital of Kinshasa, which has an estimated population of 12million.
Dr Jah – director at Harvard Global Health Institute – told Daily Star Online: “The worst case scenario is that it ends up in a capital city like Kinshasa.
“That in many ways is the worst case scenario because there it can become global in an interconnected world like ours.”
He added: “The reason I raise it is that Kinshasa is down the river, it is the capital city and so we need to be paying attention to to whether it’s locally contained, or does it spread through a national capital?
“And that’s where it gets scary. Right now we have no evidence that’s happening.
“But that would be the really catastrophic scenario because once it gets to a capital city, then it can really get global.
“I think it’s unlikely right now. The thing to remember about Ebola is that when you’re infected you’re also pretty sick, so if people are not travelling if people are throwing up, diarrhoea, fever, hard to get on plane or bus so they’re usually at home.
“So that’s the good news. But the bottom line is somebody could get infected, travel to a big city and then get sick there, and start spreading.”
WHO said there have been 52 reported cases including the 22 deaths since April 4.
Last week the organisation told Daily Star Online the spread to Mbandaka means there could be a repeat of the 2014 outbreak that killed over 11,000 people.
Those deaths came from 28,637 cases in the worst case of the disease since its discovery in 1976.
It also emerged today that a Catholic priest has been infected by the disease in the same town two infected patients fled a quarantine.
Although Dr Jah said he is “hopeful” it will be contained, he urged health bosses to remain vigilant.
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