Although the Ebola outbreak seems to be limited to west and central Africa, director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), Dr James Hospedales, has warned the Caribbean region that it ought not to become complacent and should remain alert in the unlikely event that a confirmed case arrives in the region. Speaking during a press conference at CARPHA’s office, Jamaica Boulevard, Federation Park, yesterday, Hospedales said: “The animals which carry the disease are not found in the forests of Caribbean islands and there have not been any cases of Ebola in the Caribbean. The overall risk assessment of low risk for the Caribbean region remains unchanged at this time.”
Seated alongside Hospedales was CARPHA’s director of surveillance, disease prevention and control, Dr Babatunde Olowokure, who referred to the recent “scare” in T&T when it was reported that a foreign national might have been suffering with the virus, as he said such instances “show the systems are working.” On the measures local authorities have introduced to deal with Ebola, Hospedales and Olowokure declined to comment on the readiness and preparedness measures introduced by individual member states. He said the activation of the response mechanism allowed for potential gaps to be identified and rectified.
Seeking to reassure people about how the virus was spread, Hospedales said it was transmitted through direct contact with blood or bodily fluids from infected people or animals. On the African continent, slaughtering of infected animals for meat is the main way the virus is transmitted to humans, and then passed on by direct contact with others through urine, stool, vomit and semen.
Current Outbreak
The five countries where Ebola outbreaks have so far been reported are Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria and Senegal, all in Africa. This latest outbreak is said to be largest in history since the discovery of the virus in 1976. Up to September 6 4,293 cases were reported, with 2,296 deaths being recorded. Concerns have also been expressed about an outbreak of a different strain of the virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where 24 people were infected and 13 died. The current case-fatality rate in the current outbreak is approximately 53.5 per cent but Hospedales said fatality rates can be as high as 90 per cent.
