The numbers of Ebola cases are falling in West Africa, but instead of slowing down, the epidemic still kills over three quarters of those diagnosed in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. After being virus-free for more than two weeks, Liberia recorded its first new case. Meanwhile, Sierra Leone announced a three-day lock down to tackle the deadly disease.
On March 18, the World Health Organization said that a total of 150 new confirmed Ebola cases were reported in the week to March 15, with most of them (95) discovered in Guinea. Sierra Leone confirmed another 55 cases in this period, while Liberia had no new patients. However, on Friday, while on the brink to declare an end to the epidemic, the country discovered a new patient in its capital, Monrovia. While Liberia is investigating how the women has contracted the disease, the raising case numbers in Sierra Leone prompted president Ernest Koroma to order a nation-wide three-day lock down. People in the country will have to stay at home from March 27 to March 29, without any exceptions.
According to the latest data by the WHO, the total number of infections since the start of the Ebola outbreak has reached 24,666, while the deaths are 10,179.
On Monday, Doctors Without Borders published a new report, condemning the slow international response. The organization, which is the largest to send medical staff to the affected areas in West Africa, has accused the governments of Guinea and Sierra Leone of obstructing the early efforts to bring the Ebola epidemic under control. The aid agency also slams the inaction by WHO, which instead of being in charge of the medical work on ground, it only took a distanced, administrative role. The report, released to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the start of the outbreak, claims that many institutions failed with their slow response and attempt to downplay the severity of the epidemic. According to them, the WHO officially declared an epidemic three months after its start, and “a public health emergency of international concern” only after Western health workers had contracted the disease.
Some analysts had previously expressed concern that the WHO isn’t counting properly the cases of infections, as well as the deaths, and that the real numbers are way larger than what it reports. The lack of developed healthcare systems in the Ebola-hit countries has also led to a misrepresentation off the real threat. Another instance, where WHO statistics aren’t in line with a nation’s official reports is with MERS – another deadly virus that broke out into an epidemic in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia, in particular.
