Ebola cases in Liberia appear to fall
The number of new Ebola cases appears to be dropping in Liberia, the West African country hardest hit by the virus, a World Health Official said Wednesday.
The WHO has noted that new cases have been falling for more than a week. Officials weren't sure if there were really fewer cases, however, or if people had stopped going to the hospital, or if overwhelmed medical staff had simply stopped reporting cases, said Bruce Aylward, assistant director-general in charge of operational response at WHO.
"It appears the trend is real in Liberia," Ayward said. "There may indeed be a slowing of the epidemic there."The WHO has noted that new cases have been falling for more than a week. Officials weren't sure if there were really fewer cases, however, or if people had stopped going to the hospital, or if overwhelmed medical staff had simply stopped reporting cases, said Bruce Aylward, assistant director-general in charge of operational response at WHO.
The epidemic is far from over, however. The number of cases has jumped to 13,703 -- an increase of about 3,000 reported cases in just a few days -- with about 5,000 deaths, mostly in the hard-hit nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, Aylward said. The jump is likely due to a backlog of earlier cases that weren't reported.
Ebola cases continue to increase in Sierra Leone and Guinea. Mali also reported its first case last week. "We're seeing this thing burning quite hot in parts of Sierra Leone right now," Aylward said.
Among patients whose outcome is known, "we know about 70% are dying," he said.
Source: usatoday.com
Comments