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Health ministers from eleven African countries met in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, yesterday to plan “drastic action” against the worst Ebola outbreak in history as dozens of new cases continue to emerge.There have been 759 confirmed or suspected cases of the haemorrhagic fever in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday, with now 467 people known to have died.
The new death toll represented a rise of 129 – or 38 percent – since the UN agency’s last update given just a week ago.
“This makes the ongoing Ebola outbreak the largest in terms of the number of cases and deaths as well as geographical spread,” WHO said in a statement announcing a two-day conference in Ghana
WHO has described the current Ebola epidemic as one of the most challenging since the virus was first identified in 1976 in what is now Democratic Republic of Congo.
Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said last week that the spread of the virus, which has had a mortality rate of up to 90 percent in previous outbreaks, was “out of control”, with more than 60 outbreak hotspots.
On Tuesday, Liberian authorities warned that anyone caught hiding suspected Ebola patients will be prosecuted.
Some families, faith healers and traditional doctors were reported to be removing patients from hospital for special prayers and traditional medicine.
The outbreak of the deadly disease is already the largest and deadliest so far, according to WHO. – Al Jazeera.
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