Yahoo – AFP,
14 April 2014
Members of
the Guinean Red Cross post information concerning the
Ebola virus during an
awareness campaign on April 11, 2014 in Conakry
(AFP Photo/Cellou Binani)
|
Pretoria
(AFP) - Guinea's Foreign Minister Francois Fall on Monday said the west African
country has brought the spread of the deadly haemorrhagic Ebola virus under
control after more than 100 people have died.
"We
are pleased to say we have controlled the spread of the epidemic," Fall
told reporters after a meeting his South African counterpart Maite
Nkoana-Mashabane in Pretoria.
"We
have even managed to cure some of those infected."
The
outbreak is one of the most deadly, with 157 people infected and 101 deaths in
Guinea alone.
"We
benefitted from help from the international community to stop the spread of the
epidemic," he said.
International
aid organisations last week launched a series of emergency measures in Guinea
and across west Africa in a bid to contain one of the worst ever outbreaks of
the deadly Ebola virus.
The
outbreak began in the impoverished country's southern forests, but has spread
to Conakry, a sprawling port city on the Atlantic coast and home to two million
people.
Graphic fact file on the deadly Ebola virus (AFP Photo/Adrian Leung/John Saeki) |
The World
Health Organisation (WHO) has described west Africa's first outbreak among
humans as one of the most challenging since the virus emerged in 1976 in what
is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"It is
the first time we have faced this epidemic," said Fall adding that despite
acting "very quickly" to stem the tide of the epidemic, "sadly
there were a hundred people dead."
Fall said
strict measures are being taken to prevent it spreading. Everyone entering or
leaving Guinea is checked for Ebola.
In
neighbouring Liberia, there have been 21 cases, including 10 deaths.
The virus
known as Zaire Ebola, has had a fatality rate of up to 90 percent in past
outbreaks, and there is no vaccine, cure or even specific treatment.
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