Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf declared a 90-day state of emergency over Ebola as West African nations struggle to control an outbreak of the virus that has left at least 932 people dead.
The government will use "extraordinary measures" that may result in suspending some citizens' rights to stop the spread of the viral disease in the country, Johnson-Sirleaf said yesterday in a televised speech in the capital, Monrovia.
The outbreak had sickened 1,711 people as of Aug. 4, according to the World Health Organization. Most of the cases detected since March are in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone on West Africa's Atlantic coast. A nurse this week became the second person to die of Ebola in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation of about 170 million and its biggest economy, which doesn't share a border with those three countries.
Nigeria has confirmed five new cases of the viral disease since a Liberian man infected with Ebola died after flying into the commercial capital, Lagos, last month.
Liberia follows Sierra Leone in declaring a state of emergency over the deadly virus, with the governments implementing measures that include police-enforced quarantines and closing some schools and markets. British Airways and Emirates have suspended flights to the affected countries.
Liberia from July 27 to Aug. 2 recorded the highest number of new cases and deaths, at 173 and 94 respectively, amid a shortage of medical supplies and equipment, Liberia's health ministry said in its latest weekly update.
An Ebola patient escaped from a treatment center in Montserrado county and is still missing, while a "violent" crowd in Grand Cape Mount chased off two infected people waiting for transportation to a medical facility, the ministry said.
The public health systems of African countries hit by the outbreak are "overwhelmed," U.S. President Barack Obama told reporters in Washington after meeting with more than 40 leaders from the continent.
Ebola, which has no cure or vaccine, is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected person. Standard treatment is to keep patients hydrated, replace lost blood and use antibiotics to fight off opportunistic infections.
Containing the spread of the viral disease has been complicated by beliefs that the virus does not exist, suspicion of medical workers and a lack of basic health-care services.
The current outbreak is the worst since the virus was first reported in 1976 in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.
To contact the reporter on this story: Elise Zoker in Johannesburg at ezoker@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andres R. Martinez at amartinez28@bloomberg.net Sarah McGregor, Michael Gunn
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Liberian President Declares State of Emergency Over Ebola - Businessweek
Dengan url
https://goartikelasik.blogspot.com/2014/08/liberian-president-declares-state-of.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Liberian President Declares State of Emergency Over Ebola - Businessweek
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Liberian President Declares State of Emergency Over Ebola - Businessweek
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar