"The situation's not out of hand and a lot of work has been done in the three affected countries -- Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia -- to tackle the situation and stop transmission of Ebola virus," assured Dr. Pierre Formenty, an expert from WHO's Department of Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Response, speaking during a press conference.
He said WHO and local authorities were able to control the outbreak in different places like Telimele and Dabola in Guinea.
There are places where WHO was not totally successful.
In other places, however, WHO was successful in stopping the chain of transmission.
However, difficulties in identifying cases, tracing the point of contact, and informing people about the infection that still exist in the affected countries particularly in forest areas there.
"Given the recent outbreak of the virus in Sierra Leone, and with people traveling to Liberia and elsewhere, WHO needs to address the possibility of continuous transmission between countries," the expert said.
He warned the other West African border countries like Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Senegal, and Guinea-Bissau must be prepared in case people infected with the disease traveled to these areas.
As of Thursday, authorities confirmed a total of 386 Ebola cases.
Probable and suspected cases were reported in Guinea, including 280 deaths.
Sierra Leone reported 176 cases including 78 deaths.
Liberia reported 63 cases including 41 deaths.
In an effort to address further spread of the virus in the shortest possible time, WHO will convene in Ghana a special meeting between July 2 and 3 to discuss the best way of tackling the crisis collectively as well as to develop a comprehensive inter-country operational response plan.
source: interaksyon.com
