West Africa mobilises against Ebola epidemic

West African countries mobilised today against an epidemic of haemorrhagic fevers including Ebola, which has claimed more than 80 lives in Guinea with more suspected cases in Mali, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Guinea is the worst affected country with 86 deaths, 45 of them confirmed as Ebola -- a highly contagious disease that leads to external and internal bleeding and kills up to 90 percent of patients in its most virulent strain.
Mali yesterday became the latest of Guinea's neighbours to announce suspected cases of Ebola, saying three victims had been placed in isolation while test samples were sent to the US Centers for Disease Control.

Oumar Sangare of the national health directorate said that all three patients were Malian citizens who "worked in a border zone between Mali and Guinea".
With Liberia and Sierra Leone also reporting suspected cases, Doctors Without Borders has described the outbreak as an "unprecedented epidemic" and warned the unusual geographical spread of cases complicates the task of containing it "enormously".
But the nation worst hit by the latest outbreak is Guinea, where haemorrhagic fever has killed 86 people out of 137 cases registered since January, according to the latest government toll.

The World Health Organisation said today that it is monitoring "just under 400" cases in the country, and is in contact with all those who may have come in contact with the disease from the forested southeast area of the country.

Other haemorrhagic fevers, including Marburg, have similar symptoms to Ebola, including muscle pain, vomiting and diarrhoea, as well as heavy bleeding and organ failure in severe cases, causing death.
There is no cure and little treatment for Ebola, although the government said yesterday two infected patients had recovered.
Experts say isolating victims is the only way to contain the disease, although that is not always straightforward in traditional communities, where social obligations and rituals are important.