[ 2014-10-16 ]

WHO ramping up Ebola protection efforts across Africa
Geneva (AFP) - The World Health Organization said
Thursday it was increasing efforts to help several
African countries fight Ebola if the deadly virus
arrives on their soil.

"It will take time, months, before this outbreak
is stopped. In the meantime, we need to make sure
it doesn't spread to other countries," Isabelle
Nuttall, head of WHO's alert and response arm told
reporters in Geneva.

With the death toll from the outbreak ravaging
west Africa set to pass the 4,500 mark this week,
and the total number of infections expected to
exceed 9,000, Nuttall acknowledged that the virus
will surely pop up in a number of countries.

"They may have a case, but after one case, we
don't want more cases," she said, explaining the
push to boost preparedness in Africa.

Most focus will be on Guinea Bissau, Senegal, Mali
and the Ivory Coast, which border Ebola-ravaged
Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Eleven other nations -- Benin, Cameroon, the
Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic
of Congo, Gambia, Ghana, Mauritania, Nigeria ,
South Sudan and Togo -- have been singled out for
special assistance based on their road and trade
ties to the affected region, as well as to the
state of their health systems, Nuttall said.

Special WHO teams will visit to help them evaluate
their response plans, carry out simulation
exercises and make sure they have enough
protective equipment in place for health workers
in case Ebola does surface there.

Countries need to have systems in place to ensure
the sick can be quickly diagnosed, isolated and
that their surroundings can be protected, she
said.

Being able to rapidly track contacts is of the
utmost importance, she said.

WHO will also help create a checklist of the best
materials for fighting the virus, Nuttall said,
pointing out for instance that open pick-up trucks
allowed for far better protection for drivers and
health workers when transporting the sick than
closed ambulances.

- Screening 'false security' -

She acknowledged that people infected with Ebola
but not yet showing symptoms could easily travel
much further afield than the African nations on
the WHO list, as has already been the case in the
United States.

But "there is a difference between a case arriving
in a country and Ebola spreading in a country,"
she said, stressing that in countries with strong
healthcare systems there was little chance of an
outbreak.

"The problem of Ebola is in three countries in
Africa," Nuttall said, insisting that "we need to
bend the curb in these three countries."

The United States and European countries are
increasingly beginning to screen the temperatures
of passengers arriving from the affected region.

While WHO recommends exit screening of passengers
from the badly affected countries, it does not
recommend entry screening, although the
organisation does not oppose such screening
either, Nuttall said.

Nuttall cautioned though that such screening does
not pick up passengers not running a fever and
could "give a sense of false security".

"Everyone must remain vigilant," she said,
pointing out that the case of a Liberian man who
travelled to the United States before showing
symptoms of Ebola, and who died on October 8,
would not have been detected.

Source - AFP

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