The Ebola outbreak in Liberia — one of three West African nations ravaged by the disease — may be slowing, World Health Organization officials said Wednesday.
Dr. Bruce Aylward, WHO's assistant director general, said there’s been a decline in the number of burials in Liberia and no increase in laboratory-confirmed cases. He said he was cautiously optimistic that the global push to tame the epidemic may be making some progress, The New York Times reported.
"Do we feel confident that the response is now getting an upper hand on the virus?" he said in a telebriefing with reporters from the organization’s Geneva, Switzerland, headquarters. "Yes, we're seeing slowing rate of new cases, very definitely [in Liberia]".
However, Aylward cautioned against assuming that health care workers had turned the tide against Ebola in Liberia, where more than half of West Africa’s infections have occurred. Ebola cases could surge again, as has happened since the epidemic began last spring.
Benoit Carpentier, a spokesman for the International Federation of the Red Cross, also urged restraint, noting that Ebola outbreaks tend to come in waves. And Red Cross figures show deaths are still increasing outside Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, the AP reported.
Aylward said WHO’s latest statistics show slightly more than 13,700 infections and at least 5,000 deaths in West Africa. Besides Liberia, the other hard-hit countries are Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Also Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel approved a recommendation by military leaders that all American troops sent to West Africa to help in the fight against Ebola be kept in supervised isolation for 21 days upon their return, the AP reported.
The decision exceeds Obama administration precautions for civilians, although President Barack Obama has noted that the situation of troops is different from that of civilians because troops aren’t in West Africa by choice, the news service said.
Hagel called the 21-day isolation policy a "safety valve". Top military leaders cited several factors that argue in favor of the extended confinement, including the concerns of military families and the communities where the troops are based, according to the AP.
- HealthDay