Ebola fever claims dozens of lives in Guinea
Iran Press TV
Sat Mar 22, 2014 10:19PM GMT
Dozens of people have died in Guinea of what medical experts confirm to be the Ebola virus as the highly contagious epidemic sweeps through the southern forests in the West African nation.
The Guinean Health Ministry said on Saturday that scientists studying samples in the French city of Lyon confirmed Ebola was the source of the epidemic.
'The Ebola fever epidemic raging in southern Guinea, including the prefectures of Gueckedou and Macenta, since February 9 has left at least 59 dead out of 80 cases identified by our services on the ground,' said Sakoba Keita, the ministry's chief disease prevention officer.
Doctors say they are unable to deal with the rise in cases of the virus affecting communities in rural areas.
'We are overwhelmed in the field, we are fighting against this epidemic with all the means we have at our disposal with the help of our partners but it is difficult. But we will get there,' Keita said.
There is currently no known cure for Ebola, whose symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting and bleeding.
The virus spreads through direct contact with blood, feces and sweat. It can also be spread through sexual contact or the unprotected handling of contaminated corpses.
Discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976, Ebola remains one of the world's most virulent diseases that kills between 25 to 90 percent of those who fall sick.
The French Embassy in Liberia has released a travel advisory warning French citizens against travel to the affected parts of Guinea or areas on the Liberian- Guinean border.
MRS/MAM/AS
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