Ebola epidemic spreads to FIFTH West African country as case of deadly virus is reported in Senegal - but quarantine is lifted in slum area of Liberian capital
- Ebola spreads to fifth nation in West Africa as first case reported in Senegal
- Outbreak has killed more than 1,550 people in the region amid warnings cases are increasing
- Liberia to unseal slum cordoned off to stop the spread of the deadly virus
- Scientists say first human trials of a potential vaccine could start next week
Ebola has spread to a fifth nation in West Africa as it was revealed the epidemic has killed more than 1,550 people in the region.
A case of the deadly virus has been reported in Senegal, making it the first time a new country has been hit by the outbreak since July.
It comes a day after the World Health Organisation warned the number of infections was increasing rapidly.
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The Central Hospital of University of Fann in Dakar, Senegal, where the first case of Ebola in the country was received
Senegalese health minister Awa Marie Coll-Seck confirmed the frist case of Ebola in Senegal, the fifth West African country to be hit by the deadly virus
The Ebola virus has claimed the lives of more than 1,550 people in West Africa since the outbreak started
Senegal's health ministry said the country's first Ebola patient was a young Guinean man who was immediately quarantined at a Dakar hospital, where he was in a 'satisfactory condition'.
The man is believed to have been infected in Guinea's capital Conakry, and may have travelled to Senegal before Dakar closed its land border with Guinea on August 21.
Authorities are now trying to piece together where he went and who he encountered, in a bid to halt the spread of the deadly virus.
Meanwhile, Liberia says it will open up a slum in its capital where thousands of people were barricaded to contain the spread.
Information Minister Lewis Brown says lifting the quarantine on Saturday does not mean there is no Ebola in the West Point slum.
Family members and friends of a man believed to have died form the Ebola virus, gather near his home as his body is removed by health workers in Monrovia, Liberia
Liberian health workers outside a home of a man that they believed died from the Ebola virus in Monrovia, Liberia
Despite the death, Liberia says it will open up a slum in its capital where thousands of people were barricaded to contain the spread of the virus
Liberian health workers carry the body of a man that they believed died form the Ebola virus from his home in Monrovia, Liberia. The Ebola outbreak in West Africa could exceed 20,000 cases, the World Health Organisation has warned
But authorities feel confident they can screen for the sick and that the community now actively fighting the disease.
Scientists say the first human trials of a potential vaccine would start next week using a product made by pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline and the US government.
On Friday, scientists writing in the journal Nature said 18 lab monkeys given high doses of the Ebola virus fully recovered after being given the prototype drug ZMapp, which reversed bleeding in the animals.
ZMapp has been given to a handful of frontline health workers who have contracted Ebola, two of whom have recovered, and two of whom have died. Three others are still receiving the treatment.
New figures released by WHO this week revealed the massive scale of the crisis, which it said indicated a 'rapid increase still in the intensity of transmission' that could cost at least $490 million to tackle.
The LIberian government says lifting the quarantine will not mean there is no Ebola in the West Point slum
A school classroom lies abandoned in Kenema, Sierra Leone. Many have been shut while whole villages have been quarantined in the country
In a sign that affected countries are struggling to stop its spread, the UN agency said the number of cases could exceed 20,000 before the epidemic is brought under control.
As of August 26, 1,552 people had been confirmed dead from Ebola in four countries - Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria.
Liberia was the worst affected with 694 deaths; 422 people have died in Sierra Leone; and 430 in Guinea, where the virus emerged at the start of the year. Nigeria has now recorded six deaths.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has also confirmed two cases of Ebola, but officials there insist it is unconnected to the current outbreak in West Africa.
In Sierra Leone President Ernest Koroma yesterday sacked health minister Miatta Kargbo.
WEST AFRICAN NATIONS HIT OUT AT 'UNFAIR' TRAVEL BANS
In a bid to stop the spread of the virus, many African governments have sought to ringfence Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.
But member states of the West African regional bloc ECOWAS have complained that some of the security measures taken by other countries, including travel bans, had unfairly hit the region.
A number of airlines, including Air France and British Airways, have suspended their services to Freetown and Monrovia, the capitals of Sierra Leone and Liberia respectively.
A number of airlines, including Air France and British Airways, have suspended their services to Freetown and Monrovia, the capitals of Sierra Leone and Liberia respectively
Bruce Aylward, the WHO's head of emergency programmes, said it was 'absolutely vital' that airlines resume flights because bans were hindering the emergency response.
The outbreak has also caused sporting chaos, with Sierra Leone having to field all players for the qualifying games for the African Cup of Nations from outside the country over a growing quarantine.
Morocco, which will host the tournament next year, said on Friday it was launching a national commission tasked with drawing up a health plan to deal with the risk from Ebola.
A presidential statement read on state television said the decision was made 'in order to create a conducive environment for more efficient and effective handling of the Ebola outbreak.'
Nigeria's latest death - in the southeastern oil city of Port Harcourt - was the first outside its biggest city, Lagos, and dashed hopes that the country had successfully contained the virus.
The victim, a doctor named Ikyke Samuel Enuemo, is believed to have caught the virus from a patient he treated who travelled to the city after coming into contact with an infected Liberian-American man.
Some 160 people are now under surveillance in Port Harcourt following the doctor's death, the local government said on Friday.
Meanwhile a curfew was imposed in N'Zerekore, Guinea's second-largest city, a day after 20 people were injured during a protest by market stall holders against a team of health workers sent, without notice, to spray their market with disinfectant.
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk
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