DAKAR/HAVANAĀ (Reuters) – The death toll from the world’s worst ever Ebola outbreak inĀ West AfricaĀ has risen to 603 since February, with at least 68 deaths reported from three countries in the region in the last week alone, theĀ World Health OrganisationĀ said on Tuesday.
WHO said there were 85 new cases between July 8-12, highlighting continued high levels of transmission. International and local medics were struggling to get access to communities as many people feared outsiders were spreading rather than fighting Ebola.
“It’s very difficult for us to get into communities where there is hostility to outsiders,” WHO spokesmanĀ Dan EpsteinĀ told a news briefing inĀ Geneva. “We still face rumours, and suspicion and hostility … People are isolated, they’re afraid, they’re scared.”
Sierra LeoneĀ recorded the highest number of deaths, which include confirmed, probable and suspect cases of Ebola, with 52.Ā LiberiaĀ reported 13 andĀ GuineaĀ 3, according to the WHO figures.
Epstein said the main focus in the three countries is tracing people who have been exposed to others with Ebola and monitoring them for the 21-day incubation period to see if they were infected.
“It’s probably going to be several months before we are able to get a grip on this epidemic,” Epstein added.
Ebola causes fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhoea and was first detected in then Zaire, nowĀ Democratic Republic of Congo, in the mid-1970s. Spread through contact with blood and body fluids of infected people or animals, it is one of the world’s deadliest viruses, killing up to 90 percent of those infected.
Speaking fromĀ Havana, WHO Director-GeneralĀ Margaret ChanĀ called the outbreak the world’s worst ever by number of cases, saying, “The situation is serious but not out of control yet.”
The WHO was mobilising political, religious and local leaders inĀ Sierra Leone,Ā LiberiaĀ andĀ GuineaĀ to create a better welcome for medical professionals attempting to treat victims, Chan said, while also coordinating responses from the three affected countries and eight neighbours that have experienced Ebola.
“Sometimes the challenge for us is countries like to do disease control their way. But I think this is one such situation where countries must come together and adopt a similar approach to deal with a very dangerous disease,” Chan said.
The organization was also consulting with anthropologies to help suspend local customs such as eating bush meat or hugging and kissing Ebola victims at their funerals, which can transmit the disease, Chan said.
The outbreak started inĀ Guinea’s remote southeast but has spread across the region’s porous borders despite aid workers scrambling to help some of the world’s weakest health systems tackle a deadly, infectious disease.
InĀ Sierra LeoneĀ andĀ Guinea, experts believe scores of patients are being hidden as relatives and friends believe hospitalisation is a “death sentence”. InĀ Liberia, health workers have been chased away by armed gangs.
