 |
|
Liberian
health minister, Dr. Bernice Dahn
|
Three members of a family
in Liberia have contracted Ebola, two months after the country was declared
free of the virus for the second time, health officials said on Friday. The most recent outbreak,
which officials are calling the fourth wave, was confirmed after a 15-year-old
boy with symptoms of Ebola — including fever, weakness and bleeding — was
admitted to John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Monrovia, the capital, on
Tuesday, the Liberian health minister, Dr. Bernice Dahn, said at a news
conference. The boy was then placed in isolation in the hospital.
Another
senior health official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was
not authorized to speak on the record, said the teenager was taken to the main
Ebola treatment unit on Wednesday. He had started showing symptoms of Ebola
last week, the official said.
New York Times report continues:
The
teenager’s test came back positive on Thursday, as did tests on Friday for his
father and a brother, the official said, adding that at least seven health care
workers may have treated the teenager without the protective equipment
essential for Ebola cases. A key member of the contact-tracing effort said one
nurse wore only regular gloves when treating the teenager, who was bleeding at
the time.
Along
with the father and the 8-year-old brother who tested positive, the boy’s
mother and two other brothers — a 2-month-old and a 5-year-old — were taken to
the Ebola treatment center and were being tested. On Friday, two other people
suspected of having Ebola were admitted to the center; neither is related to
the family, said two health care workers involved with the cases.
In
Paynesville, just outside Monrovia, health care workers in hazmat suits could
be seen spraying the family’s house with disinfectant on Friday, and contact
tracers were interviewing neighbors.
“I
feel bad, that is my community members,” said one, Helena Bokai, who sat on her
stoop. “Ebola is not for one person. It can travel all over. If they die we
will feel bad. All of us are here and are living together.”
Health
workers were also seen at the boy’s school, Living in Christ International
Ministry School, spraying surfaces, setting up hand wash stations and
distributing informational leaflets to students.
There
were conflicting reports as to whether the boy had attended school after he
became contagious. The vice principal of the school, G. Othello Mannieh, said
the boy had not been in school for three weeks, and the school registrar said
he had heard the same from other teachers.
But
the senior health official said the boy had gone to school on Monday and
Tuesday of this week, and an official involved with the investigation said the
boy’s father had told health workers that the boy came home sick from school on
Nov. 13, was treated at home by his parents over the weekend and went back to
school on Monday.
The
official involved in the investigation suggested that school officials were
denying the boy’s attendance to avoid looking irresponsible.
The
World Health Organization declared Liberia free of Ebola on May 9, but a resurgence
of the disease the next month sickened four people, two of whom died. The
country was declared Ebola-free again on Sept. 3.
In
Geneva, Dr. Bruce Aylward, the World Health Organization’s special
representative for the Ebola response and deputy director general for outbreaks
and health emergencies, told officials that the new cases had not dimmed hopes
that West African countries were still moving toward eliminating the original
outbreak. The W.H.O. declared Sierra Leone free of Ebola transmissions two
weeks ago and Guinea released its last known patient from a treatment unit on
Monday.
The
teenager’s case appears to point to the persistence of the virus among
survivors, which can result in occasional resurgence of the disease, said Dr.
Aylward, adding that flare-ups are expected to be less common and to end in
2016.
Dr.
Aylward said the boy had no known contacts with a survivor or a history of
travel that might have put him at risk.
He
said the latest developments were the seventh time the W.H.O. suspected that a
flare-up was related to the persistence of the virus in the population of
survivors. For example, scientists have shown that the virus remains present
for months in the semen of some men who recover from the disease, and could, in
rare cases, be transmitted through unprotected sex.
In
all cases, however, transmission has been stopped quickly, with a low number of
subsequent cases. New tools include an experimental vaccine that can be given
to those who come into contact with patients.
Dr.
Thomas R. Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
in Atlanta, said the center was working closely with the Liberian government.
“The
new cases in Liberia show both the continuing threat of sporadic cases, and the
readiness of the country, which rapidly diagnosed and isolated them,” Dr.
Frieden said in an email. “C.D.C. will continue to assist on the front lines.
Liberia is now highly experienced at stopping Ebola clusters, and with
vigilance, they will do it again.”
A slow initial global
response to the outbreak has been blamed for the scale and length of the
epidemic, which killed more than 11,000 in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
No comments:
Post a Comment